With 13 months left to write final rules on the disclosure of GMO ingredients in food, the USDA posted 30 questions on its website about possible contents of the rule. It is allowing 19 days, until July 17, for comment. Enacted last July, the law ended two decades of controversy over agricultural biotechnology by requiring foodmakers to disclose GMO ingredients through digital code, a symbol, or wording on the package. The rules would preempt state labeling laws.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has assured lawmakers that the USDA will meet the statutory target to put a rule in place by July 2018.
The 30 questions posted by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service cover a range of topics, including: what defines conventionally produced food; what amount of a GMO substance triggers the disclosure requirement; whether to exclude medical foods from the disclosure law; whether to require uniform wording on packages; what symbol would denote a GMO food; and what to do if digital disclosure technologies become obsolete. The agency also asks for feedback on what foodmakers should be required to produce to prove they are complying with the law.
The consumer group Just Label It applauded the USDA for “asking the right questions” and giving consumers a chance to express their views. “We expect that all GMOs—including GMO sugars and oils—will be covered by the new rules as part of the GMO disclosure law passed by Congress,” said Gary Hirshberg, chairman of the group. “We also expect to get ingredient-by-ingredient disclosures, just like consumers in other countries already get, and that any digital options will work for all consumers—including people who don’t have smartphones.”
To read the 30 questions or to reach the link to comment on them, click here.