The U.S. Senate needs to establish a uniform, national standard on GMO food and feed labeling, the National Grain and Feed Association said after a Senate Ag Committee hearing on GMO labeling Wednesday.
The U.S. House already has passed legislation that would create a national standard to supercede what the NGFA and many other ag groups say would be a confusing patchwork of state GMO labeling laws. Wednesday's Senate Ag Committee hearing included testimony from federal government oficials who said GMO food is safe.
"The NGFA supports agricultural biotechnology and other scientific advancements that promote a safe, abundant and competitively priced food and feed supply," association president Randy Gordon said in a written statement.
"Having a patchwork of differing state approaches to labeling of products that may contain biotech-enhanced traits would add tremendous inefficiencies and costs throughout the U.S. supply chain -- from producers, grain elevators and processors to food and feed manufacturers, retailers and exporters - and ultimately increase food costs exponentially for consumers, he says.
The Senate hearing marks the fourth time in the past year that expert testimony to a congressional committee reaffirmed the overwhelming scientific consensus showing that ingredients in food and feed that have been produced using genetically modified organisms are safe for consumers and the environment, the association said.
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The group also said it's "encouraged by Sen. John Hoeven's, R-N.D., commitment to leading efforts to enact a bill in the Senate."
Hoeven told Agweek previously that he’s working to “come up with a concept. I want to find something, a basic concept, that can get bipartisan sponsorship and more than 60 votes.”
Here's a link to the prior story: www.agweek.com/news/nation-and-world/3858988-national-gmo-labeling-sought .
