Why the GMO ‘Labeling’ Bill That Obama Signed Into Law Is a Sham

[rmstock]

THE BLOG
Why the GMO 'Labeling' Bill That Obama Just Signed Into Law Is a Sham—and a National Embarrassment
08/05/2016 06:13 pm ET | Updated 2 days ago
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-kimbrell/why-the-gmo-labeling-bill_b_11335918.html

   
   Andrew Kimbrell
   Andrew Kimbrell is an attorney and author and a frequent contributor to Huffington Post
   
   It is known as the DARK Act. D-A-R-K standing for Denying Americans the
   Right to Know. It was signed by President Obama last Friday in the
   afterglow of the Democratic National Convention, without fanfare or
   major media coverage. The bill's moniker is apt. With a few strokes of
   his pen Obama scratched out the laws of Vermont, Connecticut and Maine
   that required the labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods.
   
   He also nullified the GE seed labeling laws in Vermont and Virginia
   which allowed farmers to choose what seeds they wanted to buy and
   plant. And for good measure he preempted Alaska's law requiring the
   labeling of any GE fish or fish product, a law passed to protect the
   state's vital fisheries from contamination by recently approved
   genetically engineered salmon.
   
   The White House justified the Dark Act's massive onslaught on local
   democracy on the grounds that the bill would create national standards
   for labeling of GE foods. It does nothing of the sort. In fact,
   according to Obama's own Food and Drug Administration (FDA), if
   enacted, the bill would exempt most current GMO foods from being
   labeled at all. The FDA further commented that it "may be difficult"
   for any GMO food to qualify for labeling under the bill. And even for
   any GE foods that might be covered, the bill allows for food to be
   "labeled" through a digital system of QR codes that can only be
   accessed if the consumer has a smart phone and reliable internet
   connectivity.
   
   Unfortunately for one-third of Americans, it seems President Obama does
   not know that the digital divide is real. More than 50 percent of
   America's low-income and rural populations—a disproportionate number of
   which are minority communities—and more than 65 percent of the elderly
   don't even own smartphones—and for those that do, many cannot afford
   monthly payments, or live in areas lacking internet access. All in all
   a minimum of 100 million Americans will not have access to food
   information because of this labeling system.
   
   Reverend Jesse Jackson understood this. He wrote a letter to the
   President urging a veto and saying that the bill raised "serious
   questions of discrimination" and left "unresolved matters of equal
   protection of the law." Do all Americans have rights in an increasingly
   digital society? Or, will they be discriminated against because they
   have limited means?
   
   Adding insult to discriminatory injury, the bill also allows for
   labeling through 800 numbers and websites. The idea that Americans can
   spend hours in the supermarket calling or searching websites to find
   out if each and every product they buy is genetically engineered is
   absurd. It's just another way to masquerade non-labeling.
   
   The president refused to listen to his own FDA, a majority the
   Democratic members of the Senate, hundreds of thousands of comments
   from the public and the pleas of civil rights leaders, and either out
   of ignorance or arrogance, signed a discriminatory "fake" labeling bill
   aptly dubbed by Senator Barbara Boxer "a sham and an embarrassment."
   
   Obama's action is deplorable. But how did this train wreck of a bill
   even reach the president's desk in the first place? The answer is a sad
   commentary on the corruption seen far too often in our federal
   legislature. The DARK Act was not subject to any hearings. No expert
   testimony was taken. Rather, it was the result of backroom dealing
   between a few senators and industrial food and biotech companies. The
   DARK Act was actually defeated in March in the Senate as the food
   movement in America poured in millions of outraged comments to their
   senators.
   
   But Monsanto and the company's friends in the Grocery Manufacturers
   Association (GMA) were not going to take this loss easily. Republicans
   in the pocketbooks of Big Ag were easy to sway; they actively pushed
   for the bill that they knew would be the next best thing to no GMO
   labeling. Unfortunately, a handful of Democrats, up for election again
   in 2018, were also able to be bought by Monsanto and the other
   corporations pushing the DARK Act. Senators Stabenow (D-MI), Klobuchar
   (D-MN), Heitkamp (D-ND) and Donnelly (D-IN) began private negotiations
   with the GMA and Senator Roberts (R-KS) to see if they could find a way
   to get the DARK Act across the finish line.
   
   But would bringing in those senators looking for campaign dollars even
   be enough to get the 60 votes needed to bring the bill to a final vote?
   Probably not. So the bill's proponents made a deal with the Organic
   Trade Association (OTA), the trade association that represents organic
   food companies, but is increasingly influenced by big food companies
   like Smuckers, General Mills and Kraft—food giants that have only a
   small percentage of their business in organic brands. While virtually
   all of the legitimate organic farmer organizations were opposed to the
   DARK Act, the OTA had "big organic" industry interests in mind and
   simply "sold out" for some organic "pork."
   
   The last provision in the bill, added at the 11th hour, allows all
   organic food to be labeled as "non-GMO" without any testing to see
   whether it contains any GMO contamination, as can happen with some
   organic products. So while non-organic companies that want to label
   "Non-GMO" will have to undergo testing and verification by third-party
   verifiers like the Non-GMO Project to ensure that they do not have any
   significant GMO content, that is now not so for organic; they get a
   "get out of jail free card." The OTA endorsement did the trick and the
   bill was rushed through the Senate, then the House.
   
   So through campaign corruption and an organic industry "sellout" the
   DARK Act wins? Not so fast. Numerous groups (including the author's)
   have committed to fighting this bill in federal court. No bill that is
   this blatantly discriminatory and unconstitutional should be allowed to
   stand. So the fight against the DARK Act, and for local democracy and
   the right to know for all Americans, continues.
   
   This post was originally published on AlterNet.

   Follow Andrew Kimbrell on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CFSTrueFood

   More: GMO GMO Labeling Right To Know DARK Act Gmo Labeling Bill "

[MikeWB]

Given how much power all these lobbyists have over the members of Congress, it's impossible to pass a true anti-GMO bill in the US.

[rmstock]

The DARK Act, aka Deny Americans the Right to Know, or DARK Act (H.R.
1599) is then also quite a opportunity for shady entrepreneurs with
criminal talents.  The GMO Label or Non-GMO Label can only be verified
in a digital manner, with the aid of a database connected to the net,
which leaves open methods for digital tampering of GMO Labeling.  Move
the just purchased lot of GMO trash to a different State and Region,
and sell it as clean produce (no GMO) for inflated prices.

[rmstock]

A valid labeling method and therefor a lock-tight differentiation method
would be :

- This crop was grown from Genetic Modified seed
- This crop was grown from Natural seed. To identify
   Natural seeds please visit our Seed Storage Library
   in Greenland :
   
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault

-  Minimum requirements for a seed to be acknowledged as Natural seed :
   1. Crops and Plants grown from Natural seed must produce their own seed.
   2. The Harvested seed from the Natural grown Crop and Plant must be
      identical - and have a 100% DNA match - with the Natural seed from
      which the Crop or Plant was grown from.

I just read that the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is financed by the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ... . So what is going on. I'd say
there is a global hunt going on for our traditional natural healthy
food and its seeds.

[rmstock]

114TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 1599
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JULY 24, 2015
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition,
and Forestry

[pdf]https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/hr1599/BILLS-114hr1599rfs.pdf[/pdf]

https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/hr1599/BILLS-114hr1599rfs.pdf
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1599

And here is the bill as discussed by Andrew Kimbrell

[pdf]http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/fda-to-senate-ag-on-draft-legislation_29928.pdf[/pdf]
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/fda-to-senate-ag-on-draft-legislation_29928.pdf

And here is the full monty (latest known ed. dd. April 24, 2013) :

[pdf]http://legcounsel.house.gov/Comps/FDA_CMD.pdf[/pdf]
http://legcounsel.house.gov/Comps/FDA_CMD.pdf

For a history of this Act see e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Food,_Drug,_and_Cosmetic_Act