UPDATE: The hearing has been postponed until after the July 4th recess, and will likely be held around the 9th of July.

The U.S. House subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry passed new language added to the 2007 Farm Bill that would bar states or localities from prohibiting any food or agricultural product that the USDA has deregulated. The new language reads:

SEC. 123. EFFECT OF USDA INSPECTION AND DETERMINATION OF NON-REGULATED STATUS.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no State or locality shall make any law prohibiting the use in commerce of an article that the Secretary of Agriculture has—
(1) inspected and passed; or
(2) determined to be of non-regulated status.

The primary intent of this passage is to deny local or state rights to regulate genetically engineered crops or food. This would wipe out the restrictions passed by voters in four California counties and two cities, and could limit the powers of the California Rice Certification Act and its ability to prohibit the introduction of GE rice varieties, as well as threaten similar regulations on GE rice in Arkansas and Missouri. Local and state laws pertaining to GE crops have also been passed in Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. All of these democratically enacted laws are threatened by this language.

The sweeping language of Section 123 would also prevent states from prohibiting the sale of USDA-inspected products. This could prevent local health inspectors at a supermarket from condemning contaminated meat or spoiled poultry! Since 90% of food inspections are done at the state and local level, the impact could be severe.

After recent problems with Melamine in pet and livestock feed, Listeria in chicken, and E. coli contamination in spinach and ground beef, we need more food safety protection not less. More than 40 environmental, animal welfare, consumer and food safety organizations sent a letter to the Chairman of the Agriculture Committee opposing this dangerous language.

Tell the House Agriculture Committee to remove Section 123 from Title 1 of the 2007 Farm Bill (HR 2419), which would hinder state safety and animal welfare programs and preempt democratically enacted local and state regulations on GE crops.