(Reuters) — The battle over whether American states can mandate the labelling of food containing genetically modified crops has moved to the U.S. Senate.
The hearing in the Senate agriculture committee comes after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure in July that would block any mandatory GM labelling by states and instead set a national voluntary standard.
The House bill potentially nullified a measure that was scheduled to take effect next year in Vermont, which would be the first such mandatory state labelling law.
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The food manufacturing industry is worried new laws will create consumer confusion and boost costs.
The hearing by the Senate’s agriculture committee is expected to take testimony from five speakers, including Stonyfield Farm Inc. chair Gary Hirshberg, a supporter of mandatory labelling, and Ronald Kleinman, a physician at MassGeneral Hospital for Children who opposes labelling.
The Consumers Union and five other consumer organizations recently sent a letter to the Senate committee complaining that the lineup of speakers was not balanced and did not include a consumer representative.
The groups said “numerous polls have found that 90 percent of consumers favour mandatory labelling of genetically engineered food.”
The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents more than 300 food companies opposed to mandatory GM labelling, welcomed the hearing.
“We are confident that Congress will act on this issue this year, given that members of both houses and both parties have repeatedly told us that a 50-state patchwork of laws is not sustainable,” spokesperson Brian Kennedy said.
