Roberts' labeling proposal passes Senate ag committee

Mar 02, 2016, 10:30

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the ranking Democrat on the Agriculture Committee of MI, didn't support Roberts' bill, although she wants a national standard.

The bill addressing bioengineered, or genetically modified (GMO), crops and items made from them was brought to the Senate Agriculture Committee, by Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, chairman of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. It now moves to the upper chamber's floor, setting up a Congressional battle as Vermont prepares to become the first state to implement a mandatory GMO labeling law.

Though it did give Roberts and the bill's supporters additional time to garner up more Democratic support, it still may not have been enough.

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"It may seem counter-intuitive for state officials to support a bill that preempts state law, but when it comes to America's complex food system, state by state patchworks of biotechnology food labeling laws are chaotic for commerce, hard to enforce and will deliver many unintended consequences".

It would block states from putting genetically modified food labeling laws into place, and would reverse strict GMO laws that some states already have passed. And, it would restrict statements being made about bioengineered food being safer or less safe.

"Farm Bureau believes in meaningful disclosure that serves to inform and educate consumers on the innovative technologies farmers and ranchers use to provide food for this nation and our customers around the world", said Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation president, in a media statement. Finding consensus had been "extremely challenging", she said. And we agree that a 50-state patchwork of labeling laws is not a workable, long-term solution.

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"Those labels don't cause confusion, and they don't add to the cost of food", said Katherine Paul, associate director of the Organic Consumers Association. "The House and Senate Agriculture Committees, as well as the full House of Representatives, have now supported a uniform, national labeling standard in bipartisan fashion". But more compromise will not fix the problem at the bill's core: blocking state laws that require GMO labeling will strip away the ability states to protect the public's right to know what is in their food. The bill will now go to the complete Senate.

Supporters of mandatory GMO labeling such as the Just Label It campaign applauded Stabenow for voting against the bill, which the Environmental Working Group argued would "rob Americans of their right to know what's in their food".

The labeling argument has pitted consumer groups against major food and agribusiness companies.

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Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the ranking Democrat on the committee also attended the meeting and posed for photos with smiles frozen to their faces.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Senate committee approves bill barring states from requiring GMO labeling - Passage in the Senate won't be as easy as in the House.