Lawmakers are considering an omnibus spending bill as a vehicle to pre-empt states from requiring labels on GMO foods. Instead of labels, they would come up with other means for consumers to learn if GM ingredients are in food, such as scanning a bar code with a smart phone.
A spokesman for Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the Democratic leader on the Agriculture Committee, said a pre-emption provision “must establish a national system of required disclosure that would ensure consumers get the information they want about their food … Sen. Stabenow is willing to play a leadership role on this issue but only if it can be done in a bipartisan way and if stakeholders are willing to step up and engage in meaningful ways.”
While the Stabenow spokesman said no agreement had been reached, Agri-Pulse quoted Sen. John Hoeven as saying “we’re getting close.” The North Dakota Republican has been working with Stabenow on the issue. The House approved a pre-emption bill backed by the food industry last summer that would keep labeling voluntary on the federal level and put USDA in charge of certifying foods as GMO or non-GMO. The bill has stalled in the Senate with no Democrat wiling to back it.
Since last summer, there has been speculation the GMO labeling question would be bundled into a must-pass bill at year’s end. The first-in-the-nation GMO labeling law takes effect on July 1 in Vermont. The food industry says Congress must intervene before the end of this year to prevent disruption in distribution networks and the expense of printing new labels.
Along with seeking “a uniform national standard for food labeling,” the Grocery Manufacturers Association said it is “committed to transparency and to addressing the increasing desire by shoppers for more information about the products they buy, use and consume.” There have been suggestions information about GMO content could be posted on the Internet or available through scanning computer codes on packages with a smartphone.