Failed GMO Labeling Legislation

On Wednesday voluntary GMO labeling suffered, at least, a temporary setback in the Senate as Democrats blocked the GOP bill on a procedural vote, but a key Democrat left the door open for more talks on a compromise. Possibly for the first time, that the Chairman and Ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee were in disagreement about the issue of GMO labeling. Democrat Senator Debbie Stabenow argued the Republican approach to simply paste a phone number or computer code on a label does not give consumers enough GMO information. She swayed most Democrats and a handful of Republicans to deny voluntary labeling the 60 votes needed to advance.
Agriculture Committee Chair Pat Roberts says his bill is a compromise that requires a mandatory approach if food makers fail to voluntarily provide GMO information after several years. He stressed both the Food and Drug Administration and earlier Senate body’s rejected mandatory GMO labels. On Wednesday he said the votes against his bill do nothing to stop the “wrecking ball” of individual state labeling laws
Roberts: “Voting now today will negatively impacts the daily lives of everybody in the food chain. From the farmer who will be pressured to plant fence row to fence row of a crop that is less efficient; to the grain elevator who will have adjust storage options to separate types of grain; to the manufacturer who will need different labels for different states; to the distributor who will need expanded storage for sorting and to the retailer.”