USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack plans a January meeting on a Senate impasse on a genetically modified food labeling compromise. Vilsack said attendees might not be limited to lawmakers.
Vilsack said there is growing urgency to reach a compromise with Vermont’s law that would require labels on foods that contain genetically modified organisms expected to take effect in July 2016. If Vermont’s initiative withstands a legal challenge, proponents say it could give momentum to similar measures being considered in more than a dozen other states.
“I’m going to challenge them to get this thing fixed. I would like to avoid making food more expensive,” Vilsack said in an interview. He did not specify who would be invited to the meeting.
Noting concern about “chaos in the market” if more states implement labeling laws with differing provisions, Vilsack said, “That will cost the industry a substantial amount of money, hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more, and it will ultimately end up costing the consumer” through higher prices.
The food industry and their lobbyists lost a battle in the waning days of Congress when a ban on state labeling laws failed to be included in the $1.15 trillion spending package signed Dec. 18 by President Obama.
Vilsack will have to persuade lawmakers to include language in 2016 legislation, likely as part of another bill. Industry sources say the goal is to get a consensus by the end of first quarter next year, in order for Congress to complete legislation dealing with a delay in implementing Vermont’s food labeling law. Biotech labeling proponents to date have argued against some food industry ideas on this topic, so hurdles remain for Vilsack in his coming meetings with lawmakers and other stakeholders.
Source: DTN Washington Insider
