The USDA released rules on Thursday for on-package labeling of bioengineered ingredients. The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, which will require most food manufacturers, importers, and some retailers to clearly label bioengineered ingredients, will be implemented on Jan. 1, 2020.
In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the standard “increases the transparency of our nation’s food system, establishing guidelines for regulated entities on when and how to disclose bioengineered ingredients. This ensures clear information and labeling consistency for consumers about the ingredients in their food.” The standard “also avoids a patchwork, state-by-state system that could be confusing to consumers,” Perdue said.
The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has published a list of bioengineered foods that require labeling, including varieties of corn, canola, eggplant, soybeans, and sugarbeets. Manufacturers have until Jan. 1, 2022, to comply with the labeling rule.
Manufacturers can alert consumers to the presence of bioengineered ingredients with on-package text, a symbol, a digital link, or a text message. Smaller manufacturers can provide a phone number or web address; they will also have until 2021 to prepare for implementation.
The announcement was well received by industry groups. “The rule is a victory not only for consumers who want transparency but for the entire food value chain, from the farmer to food manufacturers,” said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, in a statement. “It provides clarity to the marketplace so that consumers can make informed decisions on the issues that matter to them, and protects the innovation that is critical to the sustainability of agriculture.”
The Food Marketing Institute, a retail industry lobby, also applauded the rule. “FMI commends USDA for introducing a more precise vocabulary into the public discourse regarding biotechnology in food production,” said Leslie G. Sarasin, FMI president and CEO, in a statement.
But consumer advocates argued the rule doesn’t go far enough. “[T]he scope of the rule’s disclosure requirements are inadequate, exempting refined products and failing to establish a clear standard on when products made from new genetic engineering techniques, such as CRISPR/Cas9, are subject to the rule,” Thomas Gremillion, director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America, said in a statement. “The rule also introduces a new term, ‘bioengineered,’ rather than relying on terms like ‘GMO’ and ‘genetically engineered,’ which are already in use and which consumers readily understand.”
What’s more, advocates say, consumers may not have the appropriate technology to decode on-package labels as they shop. “This rule is filled with loopholes that will allow manufacturers to use digital codes and other technology that make GMO disclosure more difficult for consumers than simple on-package labels. Many people don’t have access to smartphones needed to scan QR codes, or access to a good signal while shopping,” Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter said in a statement.
In 2016, just days before a Vermont law on GMO labeling was set to go into effect, Congress passed a law to require the labeling of bioengineered ingredients. The USDA released a proposed rule on the labeling requirements this past May. The agency said it received more than 14,000 comments on the labeling standards during the rulemaking process that began in 2016.