Minnesota Ag Connection - MFBF, AgriGrowth Council Support National GMO Labeling

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MFBF, AgriGrowth Council Support National GMO Labeling
Minnesota Ag Connection - 06/29/2016

The Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) supports the proposed U.S. Senate legislation that establishes federal pre-emption to protect interstate commerce and prevent state-by-state GMO labeling laws. MFBF announced its support in a release Tuesday.

"The bill is a bi-partisan compromise. It protects interstate commerce and supports new technologies to help feed the growing world population. There is no public health or scientific justification for the bill's mandatory disclosure provisions, but the national uniformity established by this legislative package is essential," said MFBF President Kevin Paap.

"Our nation's top scientists agree that crops enhanced through biotechnology are safe. This bill will set national definitions and standards for food labels and stop the expansion of state laws that threaten interstate marketing," said MFBF President Paap.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota AgriGrowth Council also announced its support of last week's legislation, which would create a national standard for labeling food that contains GMOs. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow announced compromise legislation on biotech labeling last week.

AgriGrowth Executive Director Perry Aasness said, "We strongly support the GMO labeling legislation drafted by Chairman Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow, because it will help avoid the economic costs and confusion that would result if we allowed a patchwork of state laws to go into effect.

"Biotechnology in agriculture has provided numerous benefits, including increased crop yields, decreased use of pesticides and it is absolutely safe for consumers. A national standard for labeling biotech food that will also prevent confusing and costly state-by-state GMO labeling requirements is crucial for farmers, food producers and for consumers. We thank Chairman Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow for their leadership on this issue, and we urge the Senate to pass the biotech labeling agreement as soon as possible."

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