The U.S. House could vote as early as next week on a bill to pre-empt states from requiring labels on food made with genetically modified organisms. And passage seems assured, backers said, after speedy committee approval of the legislation. The Agriculture Committee, a quarter of whose members are cosponsors of the bill, approved an updated version on a voice vote during a session that ran less than 20 minutes. Only two members spoke against it.
Chairman Michael Conaway said federal pre-emption “is the solution to an urgent and growing problem” and pointed to “the very real threat to interstate commerce posed by the impending implementation of a state law in Vermont.” The first-in-the-nation GMO labeling law, which survived a federal court challenge by foodmakers, is scheduled to take effect next July 1. Labeling laws have been proposed in other states and there was a three-year series of state referendums in the West that ended with an 837-vote defeat in Oregon in 2014.
The revamped version of HR 1599, besides barring state labeling laws, keeps labeling voluntary on the federal level and puts the USDA in charge of certifying non-GMO products under a fee-for-service system.
While the route is open to victory in the House, the Senate is something of a wilderness for the bill. No senator has filed a companion to the House bill, one of the usual signs of broad support for a cause, despite months of recruiting work by food and farm groups. Nonetheless, those groups believe a majority of senators would support the legislation if it was put to a vote.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association urged the House to pass the bill before its month-long August recess and said “it is imperative” for the Senate to move quickly.
Chuck Connor of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives said “a vocal minority” – environmental groups and labeling activists – made it difficult for sponsors to come forward in a politically polarized Congress. Agri-Pulse said North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven, a Republican, was working on a Senate version of the pre-emption bill.
Two House Agriculture Committee members, Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Rodney Davis of Illinois, said the Energy and Commerce Committee was expected to waive its right to review HR 1599 and allow the bill to move directly to a floor vote. “It’ll pass,” said Peterson.
Peterson, the senior Democrat on the committee, said the organic food industry “will have immediate access” to the non-GMO certification program; any certified organic product will automatically qualify for non-GMO certification without any fees or additional paperwork. Conaway also lauded the value of a nationwide framework for declaring non-GMO products and said the organic industry was among the sectors consulted about the bill.
The Organic Trade Association, representing 8,500 organic businesses nationwide, said it opposed HR 1599. “Absent a federal mandate, OTA strongly believes that states should retain the right to require GMO labels on genetically modified products,” said OTA chief executive Laura Batcha. OTA said it had “many concerns” about inconsistencies between organic standards and the legislation.
Organic foods, a $36 billion a year industry, are required to be GMO-free.
“The non-GMO certifications change nothing in the marketplace,” said Scott Faber of the Just Label It campaign. He said mandatory labeling would prevent confusion about ingredients in food.
Most of the corn, soybeans and sugar beets grown in the United States are genetically engineered. As a result, many processed foods include GMOs.
To read the new text of HR 1599 or a section-by-section summary of it, click here. For a video of the session, click here.