Dive Brief:
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has lifted her hold on the nomination of Dr. Robert Califf to be the FDA's new commissioner. The Senate is planning a procedural vote on Califf's nomination Feb. 22.
- Murkowski has been a staunch opponent of GMO salmon and blocked the nomination in November, after the FDA approved GMO salmon for human consumption.
- Since, Murkowski has worked with the FDA to craft language for a mandatory labeling policy for GMO salmon, and she plans to introduce a bill using that language in March.
Dive Insight:
Murkowski played a leading role in the effort to include in the omnibus spending bill passed at the end of last year a ban on GMO salmon sales in the U.S. market until the FDA finalizes labeling guidelines (currently, labeling is voluntary for GMO salmon). Last month, in response to Murkowski's efforts, FDA placed a ban on GMO salmon imports, also until finalized labeling guidelines are released.
Now, the FDA has provided technical drafting assistance for Murkowski's upcoming bill, for which she expects "little resistance to its passage," according to Alaska Journal of Commerce.
If such a bill is met with little resistance in March, this could signal a shift in momentum for GMO labeling as a whole. With the GMO labeling debate going strong at the state level and Vermont's mandatory GMO labeling law poised to go into effect in just a few months, the federal government is feeling the pressure to pass legislation that either mandates GMO labeling or makes labeling voluntary.
On the other hand, the bill could meet the same resistance as previous mandatory GMO labeling legislation. Voluntary labeling was strong enough to pass through the House last year, so the industry will be waiting to see how momentum shifts through Congress.