The US District Court for the Northern District of California has prospectively vacated the USDA final rule issued in May 2020 for organisms developed using genetic engineering. Following the ruling, the USDA's APHIS is determining its next steps and will provide guidance to stakeholders in due course. Regulatory Status Review responses, Confirmation Request responses, and active permits that USDA issued before 2nd December 2024 remain valid.

Prior to the 2020 ruling, most GM crops were assessed by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) before commercial use was permitted. The 2020 ruling, formerly known as the SECURE (Sustainable, Ecological, Consistent, Uniform, Responsible, Efficient) rule, had been adopted to streamline USDA oversight of plants developed using genetic engineering. In this latest ruling, the District Court has determined that the USDA violated the Plant Protection Act, as well as the Administrative Procedure Act, by failing to account for harm caused by the 2020 rules, which did not account for the ability of GM crops to pollinate and contaminate non-GM plants.