WASHINGTON, March 9, 2016 - Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat
Roberts is working to get agreement with Democrats on a biotech disclosure bill
that could get passed next week just ahead of the Senate’s Easter recess.
Roberts planned to meet with the committee’s ranking Democrat, Debbie Stabenow
of Michigan, on the issue today.
“We will meet and try to get a framework and see where we
are. The leader is very insistent that we’re going to vote on this next week,”
Roberts told Agri-Pulse, referring to
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Negotiations are down to the fine details of the legislation
and whether, for example, there would be a trigger in the bill to make
disclosure of biotech ingredients mandatory if goals for a voluntary system
aren’t met. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., has proposed a plan that would make disclosure
mandatory if voluntary disclosure doesn’t cover 85 percent of relevant food
products within four years.
Roberts, R-Kan., would need the support of at least six
Democrats for the bill even if all 54 Republicans are present and vote for it.
Asked if he would have unanimous support from the GOP, he said, “We’re working
on that. We know where to go, who to talk to.”
Industry lobbyist Randy Russell said the negotiations have
made “good progress.” “We’re optimistic that this is going to be dealt with
before the (Easter) break,” he said.
The House, which passed a very different bill last summer,
would have to approve the Senate measure before it could go to President Obama
for his signature. Backers of the legislation say they need a bill before Vermont’s
first-in-the-nation state labeling law takes effect July 1.
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