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Update on Frankenfish
Bills in California
The White House Bulletin May 22, 2002
TRANSGENIC SEAFOOD LABELING BILL CLEARS KEY
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE.
California State legislation to require the labeling
of genetically modified fish and shellfish cleared its first hurdle
25 June when AB 791 passed the Senate Health & Human Services Committee.
"California consumers should be entitled to make informed decisions
about genetically engineered fish," said the bill's author, Assemblywoman
Virginia Strom Martin (D-Duncan Mills). "This bill gives consumers
the right to know if seafood is genetically engineered and the right
to choose to, or not to, consume the food." A statement from Strom-Martin's
office cited potential human health risks, such as toxicity and
allergenicity, posed by the commercialization of transgenic fish.
Strom-Martin chairs the California Legislature's Joint Committee
on Fisheries & Aquaculture.
"The passage of this bill by the Health Committee
is good news too for fishing men and women who bring to market a
wild, unaltered food product. Labeling is essential for consumers
to be able to know what's natural and what's not," said Natasha
Benjamin, who heads the Institute for Fisheries Resources' "Good
Fish - Seasonal, Healthful, Sustainable" program. "It's just too
bad the seafood distributors' association and agribusiness persist
on keeping the public in the dark about differences in fish by opposing
truth-in-labeling legislation." AB 791, supported by a coalition
of consumer, conservation and fishing organizations, is the first
labeling bill for genetically modified foods to pass a major policy
committee in the United States. For more information go to: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_791&sess=CUR&hous
e=A&author=strom-martin
5:26/03. "FRANKENFISH" BILL STALLED IN CALIFORNIA
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE:
SB 1525 (Sher), a California State bill to prohibit the introduction
of genetically modified fish into state waters (see Sublegals, 5:23/07;
5:18/06; 5:15/09; 5:09/01) stalled in the Legislature's Assembly
Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee on 27 June, when the committee
refused to vote on the measure. The bill had been taken up on 25
June, but was put over for two days for vote only. The 27 June "vote
only" session turned out to be anything but. Committee staff invited
in opponents of the measure, including Aqua Bounty and the California
Seafood Institute (represented by the same lobbyist), the California
Aquaculture Association and various biotech firms arguing that the
bill would stop research and signal that the state was somehow bad
for the biotech industry. "The action, or inaction, by the Committee
is a momentary set back. However, we're determined to see legislation,
regulations, or both passed to protect our natural fish from any
threat from transgenic organisms, regardless of the lies and obfuscation
tactics of our opponents," said PCFFA's Zeke Grader.
Note: go to www.gefish.org
for latest info. on this issue. --
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