BIO Comments on USDA-AMS National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard

BIO submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA-AMS) on the proposed rule, National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard.

BIO says several states have passed laws requiring labeling of certain bioengineered food, setting up the potential for a patchwork of different, conflicting national, state, and local labeling requirements. Because the patchwork legislation could threaten the free movement of food throughout the United States and worsen the stigma of new biotechnology, Congress passed the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law, which establishes a mandatory bioengineered food disclosure program with uniform national standards.

BIO says the disclosure program has not changed the Food & Drug Administration's (FDA) separate and distinct authority to require accurate labeling on all food, including bioengineered food, with respect to safety, nutrition, or material differences related to composition or certain properties of the food. BIO supports labeling laws and regulations as currently administered by the FDA and the principles underlying the USDA-AMS program establishing a uniform national bioengineered food disclosure standard.

In the comments, BIO makes recommendations to clarify disclosure requirements and terminology.