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Senate Ag Leaders Strike Deal on Biotechnology Compromise
Kansas Ag Connection - 06/24/2016

U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Thursday unveiled a new bipartisan proposal to protect the use of agriculture biotechnology and to ensure consumers have access to the information they want.

In unveiling the compromise proposal, Roberts and Stabenow released the following statement:

"This bipartisan agreement is an important path forward that represents a true compromise. Since time is of the essence, we urge our colleagues to move swiftly to support this bill."

"Unless we act now, Vermont law denigrating biotechnology and causing confusion in the marketplace is the law of the land," said Roberts. "Our marketplace -- both consumers and producers -- needs a national biotechnology standard to avoid chaos in interstate commerce."

"In negotiations with Ranking Member Stabenow, I fought to ensure this standard recognizes the 30-plus years of proven safety of biotechnology while ensuring consumer access to more information about their food."

"I urge my colleagues to support this approach. It is a far better alternative than Vermont's law with its destructive ramifications up and down the supply chain."

Key provisions of the bipartisan proposal include:

-- Pre-emption: immediately prohibits states or other entities from mandating labels of food or seed that is genetically engineered.

-- National Uniform Standard: the U.S. Department of Agriculture establishes through rulemaking a uniform national disclosure standard for human food that is or may be bioengineered.

-- Disclosure: requires mandatory disclosure with several options, including text on package, a symbol, or a link to a website (QR code or similar technology); small food manufacturers will be allowed to use websites or telephone numbers to satisfy disclosure requirements; very small manufacturers and restaurants are exempted.

-- Meat: foods where meat, poultry, and egg products are the main ingredient are exempted. The legislation prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture from considering any food product derived from an animal to be bioengineered solely because the animal may have eaten bioengineered feed.

"As I have said before, I will continue to stand up for the farmers and ranchers that produce the safest and most affordable food in the world," Roberts said. "I will not ignore the overwhelming science that has determined biotechnology to be safe, but with the implementation of Vermont's disruptive law on the horizon, it is our duty to act. I urge my colleagues to join me."

Jim Mulhern, president and chief executive officer of the National Milk Producers Federation, said, "We are very pleased that the months-long effort to develop a compromise national solution to provide information to consumers on foods made with biotechnology has resulted in a strong agreement. We commend Sens. Pat Roberts and Debbie Stabenow for their efforts to produce this sound and workable approach that will reaffirm the federal government's role in food labeling policy and prevent the chaotic mess that would arise from leaving this issue to the whims of 50 different states. It is now critical that the Senate vote on and approve the Roberts-Stabenow agreement as soon as possible next week, prior to July 1 when the Vermont biotech labeling law is slated to take effect.

"We're pleased that the legislative proposal clearly stipulates that milk and meat from animals that consume feed grown from biotech seeds are not subject to the labeling disclosure provisions. This is an important common sense provision. Milk and meat are not genetically modified just because the cows consume biotech feed, just like humans are not genetically modified by consuming foods derived from biotechnology. NMPF argued strongly for this provision throughout the negotiations process, and we are pleased that Sens. Roberts and Stabenow agreed with us.


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