A lawsuit from Monsanto likely awaits if the Legislature enacts the bill co-sponsored by 120 lawmakers, including Democrats, independents and Republicans.
Portland Press Herald
By Steve Mistler
Library of Congress,
Prints & Photographs Division
AUGUSTA — Maine is on track to join several other states attempting to require food producers to label food containing genetically modified ingredients, following a landslide vote in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The House voted to support L.D. 718, a bill sponsored by Rep. Lance Harvell, R-Farmington, sets the stage for a legal entanglement between the state and agribusiness and biotech industry giant Monsanto, which has already threatened to sue states that pass similar labeling laws. The political battle between industry interests and the well-organized supporters of L.D. 718 has raged behind the scenes for several months at the State House, as the biotech industry fights to blunt a popular movement that has taken the GMO fight to at least 18 other state legislatures following failed attempts to pass labeling legislation in Congress.
The House voted 141-4 in favor of a amendment that would trigger the labeling requirement once four other contiguous states, including Maine, pass similar labeling legislation.
Supporters of L.D. 718, a bill co-sponsored by 120 lawmakers, including Democrats, independents and Republicans, relished the looming fight with Monsanto, the litigious international company widely vilified by supporters of the organic food movement. Harvell blasted the company, saying lawmakers should not give the industry “veto power” over a bill that tells people what’s in their food.
“In this body alone we have routinely taken on the federal government, which is supposedly the most powerful government in the world,” Harvell said. “And yet, if a corporation threatens us, we fear them more? Are we going to give these people veto power over this body and the people of the state of Maine? Do we really live in a world where they have more power than our federal government? It’s a question that we should ask.”
A lawsuit likely may await Maine if the labeling bill goes into effect.
Attorney General Janet Mills, who was asked to review the constitutionality of the bill, told lawmakers on the Agriculture Committee that it is “almost certain” to face a legal challenge from the industry. Mills did not guarantee that her office would be able to defend its constitutionality.
Proponents of the bill, including the Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association, said it is up to states to take on industry to ensure that it discloses whether food is bio-engineered – its DNA has been spliced with that of an unrelated plant, animal, bacterium or virus – because Congress has failed to enact federal legislation.
No state has passed such a labeling law. At least 18 states are considering them, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Connecticut recently passed a GMO labeling law that is nearly identical to amended version of L.D. 718. Vermont is on the verge of doing the same. A similar bill is currently under consideration by the New Hampshire Legislature.
Lance Dutson, a spokesman for the business and industry coalition that’s opposing the bill, told the Press Herald in May that Mills’ review of the bill essentially reaffirmed the proposal has “serious constitutional concerns.”
The constitutional issue centers on free speech, specifically compelling food manufacturers and retailers to disclose ingredients that don’t pose a known public health risk.
The Maine State Chamber of Commerce, the Maine Farm Bureau and the Grocery Manufacturers Association say the bill would unfairly stigmatize genetically modified foods despite a dearth of scientific research proving that such products are any less healthful than those that are conventionally grown.
Maine law now allows retailers to voluntarily label products as certified organic or “GMO-free.”
