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Hidden inside a short-term congressional resolution that averts a
government shutdown is an alarming rider that protects genetically
modified seeds from lawsuits in the event of potential health risks.
Last week, the House of Representatives voted 318-109 to accept the Senate's amendments to
HR 933,
the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013, a
resolution that approves short-term funding of the federal government
through the end of the fiscal year. President Barack Obama
signed
the measure on Tuesday, avoiding a government shutdown which would have
occurred on March 27 when the current funding runs out.
But tucked away inside HR 933 is section 735, officially known as the
Farmer Assurance Provision, a biotech rider that critics have dubbed the
'Monsanto Protection Act.' According to the
Austin Chronicle,
the provision "essentially deregulates genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) by allowing the US Department of Agriculture to override judicial
rulings and grant temporary permits for conventional farmers to plant
and grow genetically modified crops while pending review."
The
New York Daily News reports
that the measure limits the ability of judges to stop corporations or
farmers who purchase their genetically modified seeds from either
growing or harvesting their crops even if courts find evidence of health
risks from consuming them.
Although the rider will only remain in effect for six months, critics claim that it sets a troubling precedent.
"This dangerous provision... strips judges of their constitutional
mandate to protect consumer and farmer rights and the environment, while
opening up the floodgates for the planting of new untested genetically
engineered crops, endangering farmers, citizens and the environment,"
the group
Food Democracy Now!, which led efforts to strike the Farmer Assurance Provision from the Agricultural Appropriations bill, wrote on its website.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), who worked with Monsanto to draft the bill, defended the measure.
"What it says is if you plant a crop that is legal to plant when you plant it, you get to harvest it," Blunt
told Politico.
But Sen. John Tester (D-MT), who opposes the measure, called the rider a form of corporate welfare.
"These provisions are giveaways, pure and simple, and will be a boon
worth millions of dollars to a handful of the biggest corporations in
this country," Tester told Politico.
Particularly alarming to opponents of the measure is the way in which it
was anonymously introduced as the larger bill progressed through the
Senate Appropriations Committee. RT
reports that groups such as the
Center For Food Safety
are accusing lawmakers of making a "back room deal" with the biotech
industry, accusations that appear credible considering Sen. Blunt's
admission that he worked with Monsanto to write the legislation.
The
Washington Times links
the passage of the 'Monsanto Protection Act' to vigorous lobbying by
the biotech and agribusiness industry and to generous campaign donations
made by corporations and political action committees (PACs) to members
of Congress. According to MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization
that reveals the influence of money on politics, PACs that support GMO
crops have
donated $7.5 million
to current members of Congress since 2009, $372,000 to members of the
Senate Appropriations Committee and $71,000 to Sen. Blunt, the
second-highest amount received by any senator.
Among the most prominent donors are: American Crystal Sugar, Monsanto,
Syngenta Corp., Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Scotts Miracle-Gro,
Minn-Dak Farmers Coop, Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Coop, National
Cotton Council and the American Farm Bureau.
Monsanto and other corporations and lobby groups also
spent more than $45 million
in a successful effort to defeat Proposition 37, an initially popular
California ballot initiative that would have required the labeling of
many GMO foods.
In 2009, President Obama appointed former Monsanto Vice President for Public Policy
Michael R. Taylor
as Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the US Food and Drug Administration
(FDA). Agricultural Negotiator Trade Representative Islam Siddiqui, a
pesticide-pushing executive from the powerful lobbying group
CropLife, which according to
Mother Jones advocated
permitting pesticide testing on children, is a former Monsanto
lobbyist. Lidia Watrud of the EPA and Roger Bleachy of the USDA are both
also former Monsanto employees. And while Obama's pick to head the
USDA, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, never worked for Monsanto, he is a
staunch supporter of GMOs and cloning. The Organic Consumers Association
called Vilsack a "shill for agribusiness biotech giants like Monsanto."
