SUMMARY: Although GE plants hold out promise for improving crops, this new technology also raises environmental and health questions that should require premarket assessment by USDA before the crops are allowed on the market. We commend USDA for their proposed definition of genetic engineering since it includes the newer technologies such as genome editing, RNAi, use of synthetic DNA, etc. We urge USDA to require that all GE plants, not just plants posing a plant pest risk, go through a regulatory process and be assessed for their potential environmental and human health impacts.