GMO Labeling and Country of Origin Labeling Under Review

The Senate Agriculture Committee will markup Chairman Pat Roberts GMO labeling bill Thursday. Roberts released a draft of the bill last week that drew applause from many agriculture groups. However, it’s unclear if Democrats will be able to ignore pressure from pro-labeling groups unhappy with the measure. The Senate bill would require USDA to set a voluntary national food labeling standard for genetically engineered foods, preempt state labeling laws on both GMO foods and seed, and require USDA to provide consumers with information on the benefits of biotechnology.

The White House will review the regulatory rule-making for the removal of Country of Origin Labeling requirements. The Office of Management and Budget logged the COOL repeal for review. Congress passed the repeal in the December spending bill to avoid trade retaliation from Canada and Mexico as approved by the World Trade Organization. However, the review is mostly procedural as OMB must review all regulations before they are implemented. The repeal came after Canada and Mexico brought cases against COOL to the World Trade Organization, which ruled that it violated U.S. international trade obligations.