The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry held a hearing on Wednesday on federal oversight of biotech food and whether genetically engineered crops must be labeled. The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed a measure that would block any mandatory GMO labeling by states and instead set a national voluntary standard. The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act passed the House by a vote of 275-150 on July 23.
The House bill potentially nullified a measure scheduled to take effect next year in Vermont on July 1, 2016, which would be the first such mandatory state labeling law. Connecticut and Maine have also passed statues requiring GMO labeling. “Vermont is just handing out there, and we want to bring them back in the union so we don’t have a hodgepodge of requirements for our food supply based on questionable science,” Senate Ag Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) said. Roberts also argues that labeling discrepancies among other states places a financial burden on manufacturiers.
Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) has been saying for months that will introduce legislation similar to the House-passed measure that would preempt state labeling laws and require USDA to set up a GMO-free labeling certification. Senator Hoeven said he plans to introduce a bill soon and would like a Democrat signed on when he does.
Witnesses at the hearing included, among others, representatives from USDA, EPA, and FDA; Stonyfield Farm Chairman and Co-founder Gary Hirshberg; Gregory Jaffe from the Center for Science in the Public Interest; and Physician in Chief Dr. Ronald E. Kleinman, MassGeneral Hospital for Children.
Dr. Susan Mayne, director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at FDA said the agency’s position is that GMO foods do not merit labeling. USDA, EPA, and FDA are conducting a White House-mandated review of the 1986 framework that assigns responsibility for reviewing biotech products. The goal is to anticipate future products and update their review procedures.
For more information about the hearing and testimony, click here.
