BIOTECHNOLOGY
▸ EU approves sale of GMO soybeans The European Commission has approved three new varieties of genetically modified soybeans for use in the European Union. The soybeans are engineered to tolerate herbicides including glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup. The EC action will allow the import and sale of the soybeans for food and feed across the 27 EU nations for a decade. They cannot be grown in Europe, however. “Any products produced from these GMOs will be subject to the EU’s strict labeling and traceability rules,” the commission says. The soybeans received a favorable scientific assessment from the European Food Safety Authority and went through a “comprehensive authorization procedure,” the release points out. The EC approval follows a decision last month to extend use of glyphosate in the EU for 18 months while the European Chemicals Agency decides whether it causes cancer. The commission has previously approved other genetically modified soybeans for sale in Europe, including a variety manufactured by Bayer CropScience.—ANDREA
WIDENER
PUBLIC HEALTH
CREDIT: TEXTRON AVIATION
▸ Partnership targets antibiotic resistance The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the U.K.’s AMR Centre, the Wellcome Trust, and others have formed what they say is one of the world’s largest public-private partnerships focused on antibiotic resistance. The effort hopes to take new antibiotics, diagnostics, and vaccines through early preclinical development and then hand them off to public or private groups. Called the Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, or CARB-X, the partnership grew out of President Barack Obama’s 2015 antibiotic resistance initiative. It will get $30 million in first-year funding from HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority and up to $250 million over five years. The AMR Centre, a U.K. public-private antibiotics initiative formed earlier this year, will provide $14 million in the first year and up to $100 million over five years. The Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard will work with academic research-
Cessna Citation CJ3+ jets are among the aircraft covered by EPA’s plans to regulate CO2 emissions from planes.
GREENHOUSE GASES
EPA readies to regulate aircraft CO2 emissions The U.S. took the first step toward regulating carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft last week when the Environmental Protection Agency determined that these releases endanger the health and welfare of current and future generations. EPA’s move establishes the reasoning for Clean Air Act standards for CO2 emissions from aircraft. Domestic and international flights originating in the U.S. account for 3% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the agency. EPA’s expected CO2 regulations would affect aircraft as small as the Embraer E170 and as large as commercial jetliners including the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747. The agency doesn’t indicate what those future emission standards might be. However, EPA points out that it and the Federal Aviation Administration traditionally work through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to help establish international emission standards for aircraft. Then, EPA issues U.S. standards that are at least as strict as those set by ICAO, the United Nations’ aviation agency. ICAO is expected to approve CO2 standards for aircraft in October and formally adopt them in March 2017.—CHERYL HOGUE
ers in a new early drug discovery hub. Key CARB-X executives include John Rex, an AstraZeneca senior vice president, and Barry Eisenstein, formerly of the antibiotic specialist of Cubist Pharmaceuticals and now with Merck & Co.—MICHAEL MCCOY
TRADE
▸ U.S. to impose duties on HFC blends from China The domestic fluorochemicals industry is being harmed by underpriced imports of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerant blends from China, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) says in a final determi-
nation. As a result, the Commerce Department will issue an antidumping order that will impose duties on the Chinese imports, retroactive to Feb. 1, 2016. The department had previously found that the products were being sold in the U.S. at less than their fair value. The inquiry began in response to a petition from the American HFC Coalition, which represents refrigerant suppliers such as Honeywell International, Hudson Technologies, and Mexichem Fluor. The coalition says Chinese imports of HFC blends jumped by 80% from 2012 to 2014 and continued to increase after the antidumping petition was filed. In a related decision, ITC determined the U.S. HFC industry is not being harmed by imports from China of three chemicals that are components of the blends—HFC32, HFC-125, and HFC-143a. Consequently, no duties will be imposed on the components.—GLENN HESS, special to C&EN AUGUST 1, 2016 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
15
