Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., announced their bill that includes three mandatory disclosure options for products using GMO (genetically modified organisms). Those options include on-package labels, a USDA-developed symbol or an electronic code consumers can scan.
Congress ramped up its efforts to pass a GMO labeling bill against the looming July 1 deadline. That’s the date Vermont’s mandatory labeling law goes into effect. The new compromise bill will not be passed before that deadline, due to the House adjournment Thursday and business not resuming until July 5, according to the website Politico. Both committee leaders said they would not introduce a bill unless it could muster the support of 60 votes.
The compromise bill received scattered and mixed responses from food groups, political leaders and industry associations. Most opposition to the measure is against the use of electronic bar codes to detail whether ingredients have GMOs. Critics say customers do not always have access to smartphones or wireless technology in grocery stores, and that would be less transparent than just printing the ingredients on the labels.
The organizations Just Label It and U.S. Right to Know criticized the bill and called it a pandering move to the food industries. The group Moms Across America said it violated Vermont’s state rights to create food regulations and denied democracy. “Hiding our right to know what is in our food behind a code, which requires the use of a smartphone, is a social injustice.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont and Democratic presidential candidate, tweeted he would “do everything I can to defeat this GMO labeling legislation, which preempts Vermont’s law. ... GMO labeling isn't controversial. It exists in dozens of countries. People have a right to know what is in the food they eat.”
Among those supporting the bill was the American Feed Industry Association, saying the bill protects the food chain from the costs of the Vermont bill. “It also gives consumers access to the information they desire when making food-related decisions and does so without shunning GE products, which are proven to be safe and nutritious.”
Under the Senate bill, an exemption would be made for products where meat, poultry and eggs are the main product. Roberts said in a statement that the bill would not require labeling for “any food product derived from an animal to be bioengineered solely because the animal may have eaten bioengineered feed.”
Chase Adams, communications director for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said the organization has no stance on the legislation.
“We are neutral on the Senate GMO bill, but we are very appreciative of the work of Sen. Roberts to protect beef.” 
This story was updated on June 30, 2016.
-
David Cooper
- Managing Editor
- Progressive Cattleman
- Email David Cooper
