Monsanto Protection Act Dies in Senate
Source: EcoWatch
The controversial legislative rider added at the behest of Monsanto to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget bill last spring, dubbed the “Monsanto Protection Act,” will no longer be effective after Sept. 30 under a new stopgap government funding bill being drafted by Senate Democrats. Just last week, to the dismay of many concerned groups and individuals, the House approved the extension of the provision, which protects genetically-engineered (GE) seed manufacturers from litigation. The provision was included in last spring’s six month long continuing resolution (CR) spending bill to fund the government through the end of the month.
The House approved a three-month extension to the rider in its own short-term Fiscal Year 14 CR spending bill, which was approved last week to fund the federal government past September. But the Senate version, overseen by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), will explicitly say that the Monsanto-backed provision will end this month on Sept. 30 before sending the bill back to the House for final approval.
Wrapped in a “farmer-friendly” package, the “Monsanto Protection Act” touched off a storm last spring as critics accused Monsanto of trying to protect its sales of GE seeds, by overriding any court-mandated intervention of the use of GE crops based on environmental or economic risks. Essentially, the provision strips federal courts of their authority to halt the sale and planting of illegal, potentially hazardous GE crops and compel the USDA to allow continued planting of the crop, thereby putting industry completely in charge through a “back door approval” mechanism. It also represents an unprecedented attack on U.S. judicial review, which is an essential element of U.S. law and a critical check on government decisions that may adversely affect human health, the environment or livelihoods.
Beyond Pesticides joined the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and more than 120 of the nation’s top organizations and businesses in sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Chairwoman Mikulski on Sept. 12 calling on them to strip the rider from the bill. These groups welcomed the decision as “a major victory for the food movement.”
Read more: http://ecowatch.com/2013/monsanto-protection-act-dies-in-senate/
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