Vermont Business Magazine Representatve Peter Welch (D-Vermont) took to the House floor this morning in opposition to House legislation that would preempt Vermont’s GMO labeling law with what he, Senators Leahy and Sanders and Governor Shumlin call a weaker national standard for foods containing genetically engineered (GE or GMO) ingredients. The legislation (S 764), approved by the Senate on July 7, passed the House by a vote of 306 to 117. Leahy and Sanders voted against the bill as it made its way through the Senate. It will now go to the White House for consideration by President Obama, who is expected to sign it.
“This is a win for Monsanto and big food producers,” Welch said. “It guts Vermont’s labeling law and makes a mockery out of consumers’ right to know. Absurdly, rather than requiring a simple, plain English GMO label, it allows a producer to require shoppers to call a toll free number or look up a website on their smartphones to figure out what’s in the food they’re buying. Let’s get real. This is not a compromise. It’s a thinly disguised effort to block the right of consumers to know what’s in the food they eat.” Read the full text of his floor remarks here.
The legislation imposes a national standard for labeling food products made with genetically modified ingredients. Labeling options available to food producers include, in addition to a GMO label like the one required under Vermont’s law, a toll free number for a shopper to call while shopping, or a QR code for consumers to scan with a smartphone to get GMO information.
This new national standard would preempt existing state labeling laws. Currently, four states (Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, and Alaska) have enacted legislation that would require genetically engineered ingredients to be clearly labeled on food packaging with plain and simple wording that is easily and immediately identifiable to shoppers.
Following the vote, Shumlin in a statement: “There is no question that Vermont was overpowered by the financial resources and lobbying influence of the food industry, which wants desperately to avoid common sense labeling. I am proud that our state did the right thing by stepping up and being the first to guarantee the right of our citizens to know what is in their food. We started a national debate that won’t end here. Americans deserve to know what’s in their food, and they want it clearly marked on the packaging. Vermont heeded that call. It’s a shame that Congress chose to replace our standard with a weaker one that provides multiple ways for the food industry to avoid transparent labeling.”
Shumlin signed Vermont's law in 2014 and it went into effect July 1.