The House of Representatives on Thursday afternoon approved, by a vote of 306 to 117, the bill on a national mandatory labeling regulation for genetically modified foods (GMOs). On Wednesday, the House voted 242 to 185 to approve the rule on debate that allows no amendments. Any changes to the bill by the House would have sent the bill back to the Senate. The House has previously passed a voluntary labeling bill last year by a vote of 275 to 150.
Last week the Senate took up the bill, which passed on a final vote of 63 to 30 with the support of 21 Democrats.. The bill will now go to President Barack Obama for his signature. The White House has confirmed that he will sign the GMO disclosure bill in its current form.
The compromise bipartisan bill was introduced on June 23 by Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) after months of negotiations.
The mandatory labeling regulation will be managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The bill provides food manufacturers three options for affixing a lable to their products to inform consumers when GMO ingredietns are present via an on-package word label, a symbol, or a scannable link to a company website for more information about the product being purchased. The bill imposes no penalties for noncompliance.
The bill exempts from the labeling requirements all animal feed, as well as foods in which poultry and meat are the main ingredients. The bill also prohibits states from have a different standards, including the Vermont GMO labeling law that went into effect on July 1.
With the Republican presidential convention next week in Cleveland, the House adjourned yesterday until September 8. The House will then be in session through September 30, when House members will leave Washington to campaign. After the election, the House is scheduled to return to Capitol Hill on November 14 for four days, break for Thanksgiving week, and return on November 29 through December 16.
