Non-GMO meat labels allowed with third party verification
Legislative Preview covers GMO meat labels; White House moving forward on TPP; ag exports on the rise; seed, chemical consolidation topic of Senate hearing.
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a notice, “Voluntary Labeling Statements that Bioengineered or Genetically Modified Ingredients or Animal Feed were Not Used in Meat, Poultry or Egg Products,” to assist companies who want to label meat, poultry, or egg products as non-GMO.
Companies will be able to use the label if they can prove the claim with third-party verification. FSIS gave examples of acceptable labeling claims: “Raised on a diet containing no genetically engineered ingredients;” “Pasture raised beef fed a vegetarian diet with no bioengineered ingredients;” and “Derived from beef fed no GMO feed.”
The GMO bill signed into law by President Obama clearly states that meat, dairy and eggs are not eligible for GMO disclosure; however some food companies want the option to label their products as coming from animals that were never fed genetically modified feed.
White House continues to move forward on TPP
Even as both presidential candidates and a number of Congressmen continue to state their objections or concerns with the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, President Barack Obama continues to move forward on his efforts to have Congress approve TPP before the end of his term.
He recently submitted to Congress a draft Statement of Administrative Action, notifying Congress his intentions to present legislation to implement TPP. The statement details the necessary statutory changes and administrative actions needed to implement the agreement. It is not expected the administration will submit the final TPP implementing legislation until after the election. Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), said last week the Senate would not consider TPP and it will have to wait for the new administration. TPP involves 12 countries and represents 40% of the global economy.
Ag exports estimated to reach $133 billion
U.S. agricultural exports are estimated to reach $133 billion in FY ’17, up $6 billion over last fiscal year. This reverses the trend of the past two years of declining U.S. agricultural exports. It will be the sixth largest level of exports on record according to USDA’s latest forecast on the “Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade.”
The increase is primarily due to higher exports of oilseeds and products, horticultural products, cotton, livestock, dairy and poultry. Some of USDA’s projections include:
♦ China will surpass Canada as the largest market for U.S. agricultural products primarily due to increased soybean, tree nuts and pork exports.
♦ Oilseeds and product exports will reach $31 billion, up $2.7 billion. This is due to record soybean export volume and higher unit values.
♦ Horticultural products are forecast at $34 billion, an increase of $1.4 billion, led by tree nuts.