Ag Policy Blog

TPA Critics Complain About Provision on Biotech Crops

Chris Clayton
By  Chris Clayton , DTN Ag Policy Editor
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Critics of trade promotion authority lashed out at a familiar villain on Wednesday -- biotech crops.

Rep. Peter DeFazio issued a news release stated TPA would help companies attack state or national laws on labeling genetically engineered foods.

DeFazio is a Democrat from Oregon, also the home state of Sen. Ron Wyden, who has worked to pass TPA as ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. Oregon also is a hotbed for the battle over labeling ingredients of biotech crops. Labeling opponents defeated a statewide ballot measure last fall by just 837 votes out of more than 1.5 million votes cast. Now biotech opponents are gearing up to push for county-by-county regulation of biotech crop production and pesticide use.

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The TPA bill passed by the House Ways and Means Committee last week has several provisions related to agriculture that Congress considers priorities: eliminate tariffs and trade-distorting practices, reducing subsidies that decrease market opportunities for U.S. farmers while at the same time allowing the preservation of programs that support farmers and rural communities without distorting trade. Other language encourages international science-based standards for trade and regulatory coherence in health and safety protections. The bill also includes a provision to protect market access by ensuring rules against "unjustified trade restrictions or commercial requirements, such as labeling, that affect new technologies, including biotechnology."

DeFazio said the provision is "the smoking gun" in the TPA bill showing proof that multi-nation corporations largely wrote TPA for themselves. DeFazio then blamed that company in Chesterfield, Mo., for this circumstance.

"Instead of using trade deals as an opportunity to protect and strengthen consumer rights by joining the countries which require genetically engineered food to be labeled, this administration wants to benefit wealthy corporations at the expense of the public,” DeFazio stated.

DeFazio cited that 64 countries now require labeling foods with ingredients from biotech crops.

A couple of other groups joined DeFazio in denouncing the provision.

Follow me on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN.

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