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Vermont governor signs nation's first GMO labeling law
(Wednesday, April 28, 2004 -- CropChoice news) -- Darren M. Allen, Times Argus (Vermont), 04/27/04:
MONTPELIER - Gov. James Douglas Monday made Vermont the first state to
require manufacturers of genetically modified seeds to label and
register their products.
The measure was one part of a three-pronged agricultural legislative
package that also includes a bill that would make changes to water
pollution rules for large farms and alter the state's right-to-farm
law.
While the governor wasn't an enthusiastic supporter of the labeling
legislation, he promised to sign it along with the other measures as a
package.
"I've lived up to my end of the bargain," the governor said in a brief
telephone interview. "I said I would support all of the elements on
the table."
Under the bill, seeds that are genetically altered or engineered must
be labeled as such after Oct. 1. Seed manufacturers must report their
total sales in the state to the Secretary of Agriculture every Jan. 15.
The amount of genetically altered crops grown in Vermont is not
precisely known, as the only data comes from seed manufacturers on a
voluntary basis. Estimates last year by state officials pegged the
figure at anywhere between 20 percent and 40 percent - or more or
less, according to Bayard Littlefield, coordinator of the Vermont
Genetic Engineering Action Network. | |
