GMO labeling
A tall Senate wall for GMO-disclosure bill to climb
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.
Time is short for congressional passage for GMO food-labeling bill
Lawmakers have a relatively short timetable, expiring in mid-July, if they want to override quickly Vermont's first-in-the-nation GMO food-labeling law, which goes into effect on Friday. While Senate Agriculture Committee leaders need to line up 60 votes to pass their compromise bill, possibly this week, the initial response in the House was cool.
Senate Ag leaders agree on GMO food-labeling bill … but too late
Leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee agreed on mandatory nationwide labeling of GMO foods, allowing use of QR codes and symbols as well as wording on packages, under a system that would take effect in two years or so. The legislation would pre-empt state labeling laws but Congress cannot act quickly enough to prevent Vermont's first-in-the-nation law from taking effect on July 1.
As time runs out for GMO-food-label legislation, Vermont stands alone
Vermont will stand alone among states when its first-in-the-nation GMO-food-labeling law takes effect on July 1. Some food companies already have changed their labels nationwide to assure compliance with the Vermont law and a spokeswoman for Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts said, "We hope to have something ready very soon" to preempt state labeling.
Mandatory GMO food labeling proposed in Canada
Two weeks before Vermont's first-in-the-nation GMO food-labeling law takes effect, a member of Canada's Parliament proposed mandatory labeling of GMO foods, a step that was proposed fruitlessly in the past. Meanwhile, in Washington, leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee said they were making progress on U.S. labeling legislation.
GMO-food-label negotiations ‘moving in the right direction’
Vermont's first-in-the-nation GMO food-label law takes effect in 18 days, a deadline that is a central factor in closed-door discussions on federal legislation to supersede it. "Negotiations are ongoing and we're moving in the right direction," said an aide to Agriculture Committee chairman Pat Roberts.
GMO food-label bill clears another hurdle in New York Assembly
A bill for mandatory labeling of GMO foods advanced to the Rules Committee in the New York Assembly, the lower house of the state legislature. The group GMO Free NY said it was up to Speaker Carl Heastie "to move the bill forward to a floor vote or let it die even though there are 82 of 150 Assemblymembers as cosponsors of the bill."
GMO-label bill gains committee approval in New York Assembly
The Codes Committee of the New York Assembly, the lower house of the state legislature, approved a GMO food labeling bill on a 12-9 vote with less than two weeks left in the session. Lawmakers said the committee vote was a sign the labeling bill, which now needs approval by the Ways and Means Committee, has strength to pass this year.
GMO label ‘has to meet the one-second test’
The only consumer-friendly solution to the GMO food-labeling impasse in the Senate is to require printed disclosure of ingredients on the package, says Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley. "It has to meet the one-second test," Merkley told a conference of the Organic Trade Association, meaning that shoppers can tell at a glance if GMOs are present.
U.S. should broaden its safety review of new plant strains, says NAS panel
The National Academy of Sciences, pointing to the emergence of new technology such as gene editing and the sometimes startling effects of conventional plant breeding, said the government should conduct safety reviews of all new plant varieties that pose potential hazards, not only the results of genetic engineering.
USDA increases sugar import quota 15 percent
U.S. sugarcane growers will be unable to provide enough sugar to meet demand from food and beverage makers, so the USDA raised the import quota for cane sugar 15 percent for the year ending on Sept. 30.
Stabenow floats GMO labeling plan
The senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee gave a copy of her GMO food-labeling bill to chairman Pat Roberts and started staff-level briefings of farm and environmental groups, said The Hagstrom Report — steps that suggest a well-advanced effort to resolve the issue.
‘A major part of the food business’ is hostile to GMOs, says McConnell
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he hasn't given up on passing a bill to pre-empt states from requiring special labels on food made with genetically modified organisms.
Yogurt maker Dannon says it will use GMO labels nationwide
With $2.6 billion in annual sales, Dannon is the latest entry on the list of large U.S. food companies that will put GMO labels its products nationwide "to ensure full transparency for consumers."
GMO food-labeling impasse defies Senate solution
The leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee say they're trying to resolve the congressional stand-off over labeling foods made with genetically modified organisms, with the first mandatory labeling law to take effect in 10 weeks in Vermont.
House panel votes to block USDA rules on healthier foods
In February, the USDA proposed that retailers should stock a wider variety of staple foods if they want to be part of the food-stamp program. The House Appropriations Committee has sided with the critics, voting to prohibit the USDA from implementing the new standards.
After 20 years, plantings of GE crops plateau
A slump in commodity prices stalled worldwide plantings of genetically engineered crops at 179.7 million hectares (444 million acres) in 2015, says a group that encourages use of agricultural biotechnology.
State seeks millions of dollars in GMO-referendum case
Attorney General Bob Ferguson of Washington State "will seek damages running in the millions of dollars over [alleged] money laundering" in the 2013 referendum on labeling GMO foods, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.