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23 Drake J. Agric. L. 21 (2018)
GMO Labeling: An Emerging Food Labeling Issue

handle is hein.journals/dragl23 and id is 31 raw text is: GMO LABELING: AN EMERGING FOOD LABELING ISSUE Marne Coit & Kim Bousquetf I. Introduction .................................................................................................. 2 1 II. State L aw s ................................................................................................. 22 III. Federal L aw .............................................................................................. 24 IV . C onclusion ................................................................................................ 28 I. INTRODUCTION In July of 2016, the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard was signed into law.1 This law is significant in that it marks the first national standard for labeling bioengineered foods.2 Prior to its passage, a few individual states had legislation regulating in this area,3 but the federal genetically modified organism (GMO) labeling law expressly preempted these state laws.4 The goal of this Essay is to provide information on the mechanics of the Standard, which is important for food, packaging, and agribusiness clients, as this will directly impact their labeling of such products. t Marne Coit, MSEL, JD, LLM, is an Agricultural Law Lecturer at North Carolina State University where she teaches food and agricultural law. She received her MSEL and JD from Vermont Law School and her LLM in Food and Agricultural Law from the University of Arkansas School of Law. Her research focus is the intersection of law and policy on food sys- tems. Kim Bousquet is a partner at the law firm Thompson Coburn LLP in St. Louis, Mis- souri. Kim is a passionate advocate for food, beverage, and agriculture clients in high-stakes business disputes. She routinely handles litigation and pre-litigation disputes for companies in the agriculture, agribusiness, biotechnology, food, and manufacturing industries. 1. 7 U.S.C. § 1639b (Supp. IV 2017). 2. Chris Prentice, U.S. GMO Food Labeling Bill Passes Senate, REUTERS (July 7, 2016, 10:09 PM), https://perma.cc/Y728-NDNL. 3. Those states with bioengineered food laws were Connecticut, Maine, and Vermont. See CONN. GEN. STAT. § 21a-92c(a) (2013), repealed by 7 U.S.C. § 1639b (Supp. IV 2017); 22 ME. REv. STAT. ANN. tit. 22, § 2593 (2014), repealed by 7 U.S.C. § 1639b (Supp. IV 2017); VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 9, §§ 3041-3048 (2014), repealed by 7 U.S.C. § 1639b (Supp. IV 2017). Alaska also required labeling of genetically engineered fish, but is not discussed in this Essay. See Mattie Quinn, Federal GMO Labeling Bill Would Trump State Laws, GOVERNING (Mar. 10, 2016), https://perma.cc/9DK4-SMVX. 4. 7 U.S.C. § 1639b(e) (Supp. IV 2017).