{"id":3853,"date":"2013-06-05T10:51:35","date_gmt":"2013-06-05T14:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=3853"},"modified":"2013-06-05T11:07:33","modified_gmt":"2013-06-05T15:07:33","slug":"gm-ag-corporations-thank-jack-kingston-for-monsanto-rider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/06\/gm-ag-corporations-thank-jack-kingston-for-monsanto-rider.html","title":{"rendered":"GM Ag corporations thank Jack Kingston for Monsanto rider"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\nA long list of agricultural corporations wrote a letter\r\nthanking Jack Kingson (R GA-01) for working to get the Monsanto rider\r\ninto the 2013 Ag. bill:\r\n

\r\n\r\nAgain, we commend Subcommittee Chairman Kingston\u2019s efforts and\r\nurge the support of Section 733 in the Fiscal Year 2013 Agriculture,\r\nRural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies\r\nAppropriations Act.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nThis letter is on\r\n\r\nMonsanto’s own website<\/a>.\r\nIt contains not one word about public health or quality of food or preservation of farmers who do not choose to\r\n\r\npoison people<\/a> the Monsanto way.\r\nThe glyphosate mentioned in the letter is the principal ingredient in Roundup, and\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n\r\nresearch shows it causes DNA damage even when vastly diluted<\/a>.\r\nMonsanto’s glyphosate-resistant crops are genetically modified to include a gene which produces a poison that\r\n\r\nother research indicates is toxic to humans<\/a>.\r\nThese poisons are what the Monsanto rider makes harder to get out of fields.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
\r\nJune\u00a012,\u00a02012\u00a0\r\n\r\n
\r\nThe\u00a0Honorable\u00a0Harold\u00a0Rogers\u00a0\r\n
\r\nChairman\u00a0\r\n
\r\nHouse\u00a0Committee\u00a0on\u00a0Appropriations\u00a0\r\n
\r\nUnited\u00a0States\u00a0House\u00a0of\u00a0Representatives\u00a0\r\n
\r\nH\u2010307\u00a0U.S.\u00a0Capitol\u00a0\r\n
\r\nWashington,\u00a0D.C.\u00a020515\u00a0\r\n<\/td>		\r\nThe\u00a0Honorable\u00a0Norm\u00a0Dicks\u00a0\r\n
\r\nRanking\u00a0Member\u00a0\r\n
\r\nHouse\u00a0Committee\u00a0on\u00a0Appropriations\u00a0\r\n
\r\nUnited\u00a0States\u00a0House\u00a0of\u00a0Representatives\u00a0\r\n
\r\n1016\u00a0Longworth\u00a0House\u00a0Office\u00a0Building\u00a0\r\n
\r\nWashington,\u00a0DC\u00a020515\u00a0\r\n<\/td><\/tr><\/table>\r\n\r\n\"Page<\/a>

\r\nDear\u00a0Chairman\u00a0Rogers\u00a0and\u00a0Ranking\u00a0Member\u00a0Dicks:\u00a0\r\n\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\r\nOur organizations strongly support Section 733 of the\r\n\r\nFiscal Year 2013 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Act<\/em>.\r\nThe provision will give\r\ngrowers assurance that crops developed through biotechnology that\r\nhave already been approved by the Department of Agriculture (USDA)\r\ncan be planted and harvested under temporary stewardship conditions\r\nin the event of litigation against the agency’s decision. We commend\r\nSubcommittee Chairman Kingston for including Section 733 in the\r\nsubcommittee bill and urge your support for this necessary provision\r\nwhen the Appropriations Committee considers this bill later this\r\nmonth. The provision addresses a costly vulnerability in the\r\nregulatory process for biotechnology that is discouraging innovation\r\nin agriculture and unnecessarily putting farmers at financial risk.\r\n

\r\nWe support an efficient, predictable, and scientifically sound\r\nregulatory framework for biotechnology, are supportive of this\r\nprovision, and continue to seek additional solutions to strengthen\r\nthe\r\n\r\nCoordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology<\/em>.\r\n

\r\nOpponents of agricultural biotechnology have repeatedly filed suits\r\nagainst USDA on procedural grounds in order to disrupt the\r\nregulatory process and undermine the science-based regulation of\r\nsuch products. These lawsuits have also created tremendous resource\r\nconstraints for USDA and have resulted in significant delays in\r\napproval of new, innovative products that will help growers provide\r\nAmericans with an abundant and economical food supply while\r\nremaining competitive in the world market. Activist groups have made\r\nit clear they will continue to use the court system to challenge\r\nregulatory approvals of corn, soybean and other\r\nbiotechnology-derived crops, and have openly stated their intention\r\nto use litigation as a way to impede the availability of new\r\ntechnology to growers and consumers.\r\n

\r\nIn the case of alfalfa, our\r\nnation’s fourth largest crop, a court-ordered injunction against\r\nplanting during a lengthy and duplicative environmental safety\r\nreview of glyphosate-tolerant alfalfa meant that farmers were barred\r\nfrom planting for nearly four years. The Supreme Court later decided\r\n7-1 in\r\n\r\nMonsanto v. Geertson that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of\r\nAppeals<\/em> injunction overstepped its authority.\r\n

\r\nDespite the positive\r\nSupreme Court alfalfa ruling in Geertson<\/em>, growers are still\r\nvulnerable to a single judge inappropriately determining that future\r\nplantings of a crop cannot continue until the federal government\r\ncompletes an additional multi-year environmental analysis. Indeed,\r\nthe plaintiffs in the litigation have previously requested that\r\nexisting crops be destroyed because, they argued, the existing\r\nfederal analyses were not sufficiently detailed despite the agency’s\r\nclear expression of the science supporting a given decision and\r\nplaintiffs’ equally clear lack of scientific justification to the\r\ncontrary.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"Page<\/a>\r\nThe language in Section 733 maintains the ability of growers to\r\ncontinue to grow previously de-regulated crops while giving the\r\nSecretary of Agriculture the authority to impose immediate interim\r\nmeasures if a judge rules that a “deregulation”\r\ndetermination was not properly granted for a biotechnology-derived\r\ncrop. Such interim measures have previously been imposed by USDA for\r\nglyphosate-tolerant sugarbeets in 2011, but even those interim\r\nmeasures for sugarbeets are now being litigated. The language\r\nensures growers can continue planting and cultivating their crops\r\n— with appropriate interim conditions — while disputes\r\nabout the sufficiency of federal analysis and paperwork continue.\r\n

\r\nSection 733 provides certainty to growers with respect to their\r\nplanting decisions. If enacted, growers would be assured that the\r\ncrops they plant could continue to be grown, subject to appropriate\r\ninterim conditions, even after a judicial ruling against USDA.\r\nMoreover, the language would apply only to products that have\r\nalready satisfactorily completed the U.S. regulatory review process\r\nand does not remove or restrict anyone’s right to challenge USDA\r\nonce a determination of no plant pest risk has been made.\r\n

\r\nThe\r\ninclusion of Section 733 is a positive step to ensure U.S. farmers\r\nand our food chain are shielded from supply disruptions caused by\r\nlitigation over procedural issues unrelated to sound science or the\r\nsafety of biotech crops. This legislative solution ensures that\r\nnational agricultural policy is not being decided by the court\r\nsystem while providing a level of certainty that is critical to\r\nensure that our agricultural producers continue to lead the world.\r\n

\r\nAgain, we commend Subcommittee Chairman Kingston’s efforts and urge\r\nthe support of Section 733 in the\r\n\r\nFiscal Year 2013 Agriculture,\r\nRural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies\r\nAppropriations Act<\/em>. In addition, we look forward to working with\r\nCongress to find additional solutions to strengthen the regulatory\r\nframework and improve the efficiency and predictability of the\r\nCoordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology<\/em>.\r\n<\/p>

\r\nSincerely,\r\n<\/p>\r\nAgricultural Retailers Association\r\n
\r\nAmerican Farm Bureau Federation\r\n
\r\nAmerican Seed Trade Association\r\n
\r\nAmerican Soybean Association\r\n
\r\nAmerican Sugarbeet Growers Association\r\n
\r\nBiotechnology Industry Organization\r\n
\r\nNational Association of Wheat Growers\r\n
\r\nNational Corn Growers Association\r\n
\r\nNational Cotton Council\r\n
\r\nNational Council of Farmer Cooperatives\r\n
\r\n
\r\n Cc: The Honorable Frank D. Lucas, House Committee on Agriculture\r\n
     The Honorable Collin C. Peterson, House Committee on Agriculture\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nPS: Owed to Claudia Collier.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

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