With Congress at an apparent impasse, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he is willing to sort out a mandatory GMO food-labeling system. “If Congress is unwilling to make these tough decisions … then delegate the responsibility to the Department of Agriculture,” Vilsack said at the National Farmers Union convention. “We’ll be happy to make the tough decisions.”
The system would look like the SmartLabel initiative launched by the food industry last year, he said. That approach uses QR codes, which can be scanned by smartphones, on packages along with toll-free telephone numbers and websites to provide information about ingredients.
The Senate Agriculture Committee approved a bill last week that would pre-empt state and local GMO-label rules. Republicans control the Senate 54-46 so several Democrats, at a minimum, would have to support the legislation to guarantee the 60-vote majority often needed to pass a bill. Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow says Democratic senators overwhelmingly support mandatory labeling.
“Congress needs to address this and they need to address it now,” Vilsack said at the NFU convention, according to excerpts provided by NFU. It would be chaotic if states and food companies decide independently what products to label and what the labels should look like, he said.
Vermont’s first-in-the-nation labeling law takes effect July 1. The food industry, which adamantly opposes labels on food packages, is urging Congress to override swiftly the Vermont law and preclude other states from demanding labels. Connecticut and Maine have labeling laws on the books but they will not take effect unless enough neighboring states enact similar laws.
Over the weekend, Vilsack said mandatory labeling was crucial to building Senate support for a GMO bill. The Hagstrom Report said Vilsack did not explicitly make that connection at the NFU convention while arguing that labeling must be mandatory nationwide.