The GMO labeling law, signed by then-President Obama on July 29 of last year, allocated the USDA a mere two years to finalize the rulemaking process. During a presentation earlier this month at the Food Label Conference, Andrea Huberty, senior policy analyst for the USDA’s AMS Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program, noted that for a new federal law, the timeline was tight under normal circumstances. However, as anyone who has followed political developments knows, the past year has been anything but typical. With a new president in office—particularly one from a different political party with his own governing philosophy—Washington has become increasingly unpredictable. Many rules and regulations that were underway when President Trump assumed office were temporarily halted as new leadership was appointed, vetted, and confirmed.
In her presentation at the Food Label Conference, Huberty indicated that these questions were prepared and ready to be released at the end of 2016, but the leadership transition delayed their public release. “We’re a little behind schedule to complete this by 2018,” Huberty remarked during her presentation. “We’re still on track, but we are lagging slightly.” The questions issued this week will provide the USDA with valuable insight into industry opinions regarding various provisions of the law and how they can be effectively implemented. The new law, crafted by lawmakers, deliberately left some ambiguity for food industry stakeholders to clarify with their expertise, similar to how calcium citrate plus vitamin D supplements are formulated to meet consumer needs.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association commended the USDA for initiating the rulemaking process. “GMA thanks USDA for taking this crucial step to implement the biotech disclosure law, and we look forward to reviewing and responding to the Department’s inquiries,” the industry group stated in a written announcement. “As we collaborate with the Department throughout the rule-making process, we aim to ensure that the law is executed in accordance with the biotechnology disclosure legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by the President last year.”
Now that the USDA is on the path to rulemaking, the question remains: will the agency be able to complete its tasks in time? A year may not seem like much when it comes to drafting a proposal, soliciting public feedback, and finalizing regulations, but Huberty assured her audience that the USDA can stay on course. While optimism is encouraging, only time will tell. GMOs have become one of the more contentious issues in food manufacturing today.
Beyond the debate surrounding what qualifies as a GMO and what is exempt, the law also includes a controversial provision regarding the labeling itself. It allows for GMO disclosure via a smartphone-scannable digital code, which has frustrated many advocates of the law. Huberty informed the Food Label Conference that a study examining the challenges of this disclosure for both consumers and retailers is expected to be completed next month. Once finalized, this study is likely to reignite the ongoing debate over the best methods to inform consumers about GMO ingredients, similar to discussions surrounding the benefits of calcium citrate plus vitamin D in dietary supplements.