The U.S. Senate has eviscerated a Vermont law that would require manufacturers to label genetically modified organisms used in food production.
The Senate voted 65 to 32 to end debate and advance a GMO bill that will pre-empt Act 120, a state statute that went into effect on July 1.
The bill, S.764, is expected to be fast-tracked through Congress before lawmakers recess July 15. A final vote is likely today. The Senate legislation is expected to bypass the conference committee process and will be voted on by the House where it is expected to pass. A similar bill, known as the DARK (Denying Americans the Right to Know Act), was approved last year by an overwhelming majority in the House. It will then go to the president’s desk.
If the federal law is enacted, the pre-emption will go into effect immediately and Vermont’s mandatory labeling statute will be rendered moot. A number of high profile manufacturers, including Campbell’s Soup, Frito-Lay, Kellogg and ConAgra had already begun labeling GMO foods nationwide to comply with Vermont’s law. It’s not clear whether the companies will continue to do so voluntarily.
Instead of a simple label identifying genetically engineered ingredients, the Senate GMO bill allows food processors to print a 1-800 number or a digital code on labels that consumers can use to get more information. Consumers would need a phone to call the 1-800 number or a smart phone and code reading application to find out if a foodstuff is genetically engineered. The rulemaking process for the legislation will take about two years.
S.764 also preempts a 2004 Vermont law requiring companies to label GE seeds.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., both adamantly opposed the Senate bill. The two senators held a press conference on Wednesday decrying the impact of the bill on Vermont’s law. Leahy described S.764 as a “fig leaf disguised as a compromise” and blamed “big corporations that back this deal.” Sanders said the bill creates “a confusing, misleading and unenforceable standard for labeling genetically modified food.”
“Instead of using Vermont’s law as a floor, these powerful interests are intent on stamping it out as quickly as they can,” Leahy said in a statement. “What’s driving their efforts isn’t consumers’ right to know, but on doing as little as they can get by with. They couldn’t care less if their plan sows more confusion for consumers across the country.”
Leahy introduced nine amendments to the bill, none of which were considered by the Senate. A cloture vote limited debate on the floor.
One of the provisions would have grandfathered in Vermont’s GMO labeling law, another would have protected the state’s genetically engineered seed labeling law.
The Senate did not hold hearings on the GMO bill, according to Leahy’s office. Last fall, the Agriculture Committee invited biotechnology stakeholders to testify on the state of the industry.
Vermont lawmakers debated the GMO labeling statute over a two-year period, held 50 hearings and heard from 136 witnesses, according to Leahy’s office.
Gov. Peter Shumlin, who signed Act 120 into law in 2014, said in a statement that Vermont created “a common sense labeling law that guarantees clear, accessible information.”
“For a Republican-controlled Congress that continually argues for states’ rights to act to take away Vermonters’ right to know what is in their food is the height of hypocrisy and a sad statement on the power of special interests in Congress,” Shumlin said.
In 2015, food manufacturers spent more than $100 million on lobbying in Congress to block GMO labeling, according to the Environmental Working Group.
