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USDA releases proposed biotech labeling rule, seeks public comment

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has introduced a proposed rule on biotech labeling and is requesting public comment by July 3.

The bill mandating GMO labeling on food and beverage products was signed into law in 2016 and gave the USDA two years to develop a national standard. Congress passed the law after several states began requiring their own labeling standards.

Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue told farm broadcasters last week that they were close to getting a final rule published and that there were some preliminary comments that helped shape the rule.

“We had many preliminary inter-agency comments which help us to refine and massage the rule in a way that we thinks cover potential objections there,” he says.

Perdue says once the USDA receives and responds to comments, they will be able to publish a final rule.

The proposed definition for bioengineered food is food that contains genetic material that has been modified in a way that couldn’t be obtained through conventional breeding or found in nature.

The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard is intended to provide a standard for providing information to consumers about ingredients in bioengineered food.