Dive Brief:
- Washington's attorney general has requested a court ruling against Food Democracy Action, an anti-GMO group that campaigned for GMO labels in Washington in 2013.
- The attorney general alleges the group violated disclosure laws after being months late in reporting the sources of $200,000 spent in support of GMO labeling Initiative 522.
- Food Democracy chairman Dave Murphy told Capital Press the group attempted to provide the filings before the election, but his small staff was overwhelmed by the paperwork. The group will file a counter motion to have the case dismissed at a hearing set for March 25.
Dive Insight:
The case is similar to another the attorney general brought against the Grocery Manufacturers Association last month. He alleges that GMA illegally hid the names of the donors for its $11 million "Defense of Brands" fund. The attorney general is seeking $14 million in that case. GMA has filed a motion for summary judgment to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing its actions were legal per Washington state laws.
The Senate now has to decide on a voluntary GMO labeling bill that recently passed through the agriculture committee, but battles among the states rage on. After a relatively quiet 2015, several state legislatures have picked up GMO issues, ranging from labeling and sales to agriculture.
Because of the pending federal labeling bill, critics of mandatory GMO labeling bills at the state level argue that passing state laws is a moot point if federal legislation will override them anyway. Congress could choose to prevent manufacturers from having to create different labels for individual states, but with Vermont's law going into effect July 1, they'd have to act fast.