argylesock says… A legal clause known as the Monsanto Protection Act (posh name ‘Farmer Assurance Provision’) was slipped into US law with little or no public discussion. It’s an outrage with implications for the whole world – I’ve blogged about it under my ‘genetic modification’ tag. It’s such an outrage that Republicans and Democrats agree that it must go. You might want to sign the petition at Food Democracy Now (see the link above).
I’m grateful to my fellow blogger drbausman for drawing attention to this.
Food policy advocates have begun a campaign around repeal of the Monsanto Protection Act. The act was actually part of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013, which was passed to prevent (another) government shutdown. Buried in the fine print—Section 933—was the Farmer Assurance Provision, dubbed the Monsanto Protection Act by its critics. The act effectively barred US courts from being able to halt the sale or planting of genetically modified seed. The provision was actually drafted by Monsanto before being introduced to the provision through the House Appropriations Committee.
Not surprisingly, the provision has come under fire from critics, who see the act as a major concession to the biotech giant. In response, the NGO Food Democracy Now organized a petition calling on President Obama to issue an executive order requiring the mandatory labeling of GMOs. That petition has already garnered more than 300,000 signatures.
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This codification of these kind of rights is insane! How the hell did it get passed into law? There appears to be something fundamentally flawed in the democratic process if that can happen with no open debate.
The fact that Democrats and Republicans agree on it must mean that it’s completely bonkers.
Belated response… I agree that it’s insane. We know Obama is a busy person but doesn’t he have a team of advisors? Mind you, the anti-Monsanto protests haven’t yet gone mainstream.