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ALERT:
Local authority to control genetically engineered and invasive plants
is under attack
Legislators in many states have
passed bills preventing counties, towns and cities from introducing
ordinances, resolutions, or other legislation relating to agricultural
seeds. These seed pre-emption bills are an orchestrated industry
response to recent local actions on genetically modified organisms. For
example, ballot initiatives in three California counties have prohibited
the cultivation of genetically modified crops, livestock, and other
organisms and nearly 100 New England towns have passed various
resolutions in support of limits on genetically engineered crops.
For
more information, and to see if your state legislature has passed or
proposed such a bill,
Some
state and local governments are adopting their own laws to regulate the
production, labeling, and sale of genetically engineered plants. They
include:
Maryland
The
first state to bar the introduction of a GE plant or animal when it
passed HB189 in 2001.
The
bill requires a five-year ban on the release of GE fish in any state
waterway connecting to another body of water.
Mendocino
County, California
Voters
recently approved an initiative banning the production of
genetically engineered plants and animals.
Vermont
Vermont
is the first-in-the-nation to hold biotech corporations accountable
for contamination by genetically engineered crops.
79
Vermont towns have passed Town Meeting measures calling on lawmakers
in Montpelier and Washington, D.C. to enact a moratorium on GE
organisms.
10%
of Vermont's conventional dairy farmers have pledged not to plant GE
crops.
For more information about establishing
local regulations, see the
Organic
Consumers Association website. |
