Key questions and answers

SB 6298/ HB

2637

Who is liable

 

The obligation to
disclose a product produced with genetic engineering, and to refrain from
promoting or advertising a product as “natural” if made through GE,
falls

only on the person responsible for the packaging/advertising of
a processed food (the manufacturer) — or, for an unpackaged raw commodity, the
person  responsible for the retail shelf or bin (retail grocer). 

No one else would be liable for any
violation under this law. 

No one can become liable merely by shipping a mislabeled product or
distributing it.  (Providing a false affidavit, under the exemption
based on affidavits, that a product has not been intentionally produced through
GE, etc, knowing that it is false, would be perjury of course.)

Who will enforce it

& how will it be
enforced.

The state does NOT have
responsibility to go out and initiate

enforcement. The bill is designed so enforcement may be pursued by
private citizens — or by the state through the Attorney General.

For instance, a c
itizen may test a
product and if he or she finds out it was produced with genetic engineering and
that’s not disclosed, the citizen must notify the
Attorney General, and if the Attorney General doesn’t act
within 60 days, then the citizen may pursue the action through the courts.

 

The state

may initiate enforcement through the Attorney General, but the
bill

does

not require the state to test or enforce. The whole idea of
this approach is that we don’t want something that is going to cost the state $$.

 

Will they be liable for shipping something incorrectly
labeled or not labeled

Read the exemptions: SEC. 3 (c) (4) Disclosure with respect
to genetic engineering: “Requirements do not apply to…”

If a party

unknowingly has a product
produced through GE, they’re

exempt.

For example, if you buy something that’s supposedly not
engineered, all you need is an affidavit saying it was not produced through
genetic engineering and you’re covered, you’re fine, exempt.

 

(a) If your product is apples,
don’t have to worry because apples are not genetically engineered, not on the
list. 

(b) If animals are vaccinated with
a GE vaccine, the meat or dairy from that animal does not get labeled.

So rBHG
milk doesn’t get labeled.

(c) If a shipper buy

s

soy and has an affidavit

 saying the soy is not GE, they’re
covered because it’s “…not knowingly produced…”

If it turns out the soy has some
background level of GE contamination, if not knowingly done, they’re
not liable.
(d) “any processed food…” if the
food uses GE processing aides and/or enzymes (as in bread, since

engineered
yeasts are used in fermentation), they’re exempt

(e) alcohol is exempt

(f) any processed food can have up
to 0.9% providing it is adventitious or unavoidable