American Seed Trade Association president & CEO Andy LaVigne issues a statement in support of the House Agriculture Committee’s markup and passage of the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act, which is designed to establish a uniform, science-based labeling framework for foods made with genetically modified organisms and also for GMO-free foods.
“The American Seed Trade Association is pleased with the strong bi-partisan support shown today during the House Agriculture Committee’s markup and passage of the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act,” LaVigne says.
“A patchwork of mandatory state labeling regulations would only serve to mislead and confuse consumers, be costly to comply with and enforce, and ultimately raise the price of groceries for American families. The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act is a common sense solution and we urge swift consideration by the full House of Representatives.”
The House Agriculture Committee’s decision was also praised by the likes of the National Corn Growers Association, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and the American Soybean Association (ASA).
“Consumers continue to demand more transparency and accountability from food producers. This bill ensures that a multi-state patchwork of state regulations is avoided, as the wide range of potential individual and conflicting non-GMO labeling schemes,” says Wade Cowan, ASA president and a soybean farmer from Brownfield, Texas.
“We’ve seen that the effort to bring clarity to the GMO labeling debate has significant support on both sides of the aisle. It’s clear that consumers want practical solutions that give them the confidence they want in their food, and this legislation does exactly that. In the coming weeks, we’ll meet with every lawmaker in soybean country to urge them to support this legislation. It’s a bill that moves us closer to a science-based dialogue on food and farm issues, and we will encourage every member of the House to get behind it.”
