Seventeen lawmakers signed as co-sponsors to the Pompeo-Butterfield bill in the House to pre-empt state labeling of foods made with genetically modified organisms. Rep. Mike Pompeo, a Kansas Republican, told reporters he’s spent a lot of time talking to senators about the legislation, a broader-reaching bill than his 2014 version. “We just have to find the right path forward,” he said, which means finding well-positioned sponsors who could help steer the bill through committee approval to a floor vote. A Pompeo news release about the House bill included supportive words from Energy and Commerce chairman Fred Upton: “When it comes to food labeling, state-by-state standards do not work …. Safe and accurate labeling is something that we should all be able to rally around with broad bipartisan support.”
Although the new bill allows the USDA to certify food as non-GMO, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the FDA, will have primary jurisdiction over the labeling. The bill would maintain the current federal standard that labeling of GMO food is voluntary. And, like the original bill, it would prevent states from mandating labels. “If we thwart it here in America, we will stifle that technology,” said Pompeo, referring to agricultural biotechnology. U.S. farm groups and foodmakers say GMO foods are safe, so there is no need for labels. Advocates say labeling is part of a consumer’s right to know.