The Roberts-Stabenow bill to pre-empt state GMO food-labeling laws and to mandate disclosure through text, QR code or symbol will need a super-majority of 60 votes to pass the Senate, the first step toward becoming law. The bill would supersede Vermont’s first-in-the-nation labeling law, which takes effect Friday and requires a special “made with GMOs” label on the package.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said, “I am going to do everything I can to defeat this legislation.” That includes putting a “hold” on the bill to slow its progress, said an aide. Sixty votes in the 100-member Senate are required to overcome a hold, said The Associated Press. That threshold would be needed to prevent a filibuster as well.
Aides to the bill’s authors, Agriculture Committee chairman Pat Roberts and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the committee, were not immediately available for comment on work to bring the bill to a vote.
The Coalition for Safe Affordable Food, composed of 54 trade groups across the food chain, tweeted, “The Senate must swiftly pass the bipartisan GMO labeling agreement!” Food processors and farm groups say a uniform standard is needed nationwide to avert the possibility of conflicting state laws. They say consumers will interpret GMO labels as a warning rather than information about production methods.
“This bill falls far short and doesn’t meet consumer needs at all,” said Jane Halloran of Consumers Union, which opposes the bill. Foodmakers can bypass an on-package label by using a QR code or a symbol, she said. One-third of Americans do not own a smartphone, so they would learn nothing from the scannable QR code, she told Consumer Reports.
When the Senate debated a state GMO pre-emption bill in March, it was under a format that required 60 votes for passage. The bill failed, 48-49, in a surprising party-line roll call. Roberts said the vote was a test of support for agriculture. Democrats, who prevailed, said it was a matter of the consumers’ right to know. The Republican-controlled House passed a pre-emption bill last summer by a landslide margin. It would keep labeling of GMO foods voluntary at the national level.