The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $145 billion USDA-FDA funding bill on Thursday that would extend a ban on the sale of genetically modified salmon until the FDA requires special labels on the fish. In November 2015, the FDA declared that the fast-growing AquaBounty salmon was safe to eat, but lawmakers, including Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, have blocked sale of the fish without a GMO label.
Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved its version of the USDA-FDA bill with a rider that would apply the USDA’s upcoming rules on GMO food labeling to the salmon. The USDA rules would allow food companies to use a symbol, a digital QR code, or wording on the package to identify products that contain GMO ingredients. Under the USDA proposal, GMOs might be identified by the initials BE, for bioengineered.
North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven, chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that wrote the USDA-FDA bill, said it would ban horse slaughter in the United States. The House bill would allow it. The House bill also would put the USDA in charge of regulating lab-grown meat and exempt SNAP sales data from the Freedom of Information Act. The Senate bill is silent on that issue.
For a summary of the Senate Appropriations Committee bill, click here.