The degree of regulation should be proportionate to the perceived risk of the new organism, which is a function of certain characteristics of the host plant, such as weediness, toxicity, ability to outcross, etc.
At the time scientists inside and outside the EPA unanimously agreed that the test posed negligible risk. (I wrote the analysis submitted by the Food and Drug Administration.) No new genetic material had been added--only a single gene whose function was well known had been removed--and the organism was obviously harmless.
