‘An Act To Protect Maine Food Consumers' Right To Know about Genetically Engineered Food’
| HP0490 LD 718 |
Session - 126th Maine Legislature C "C", Filing Number H-395, Sponsored by
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LR 52 Item 3 |
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| Bill Tracking, Additional Documents | Chamber Status | ||
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘An Act To Protect Maine Food Consumers' Right To Know about Genetically Engineered Food’
Amend the bill in section 1 by inserting before §2591 the following:
‘ § 2591. Purpose
It is the purpose of this chapter to:
Amend the bill in section 1 in §2591 by inserting after subsection 1 the following:
Amend the bill in section 1 in §2591 by renumbering the subsections to read consecutively.
Amend the bill in section 1 by striking out all of §2592 and inserting the following:
‘ § 2592. Disclosure requirements for genetically engineered food
(1) Grows, raises or otherwise produces that food without knowledge that the food was created from other seed or other food that was genetically engineered; and
(2) Obtains a sworn statement from the person from whom the food was obtained that the food was not knowingly genetically engineered and was segregated from and not knowingly commingled with a food component that may have been genetically engineered;
Amend the bill in section 1 in §2593 by striking out all of subsections 1 and 2 (page 2, lines 9 to 16 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
Amend the bill in section 1 in §2595 by striking out all of the indented paragraph (page 2, lines 27 to 31 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
The commissioner shall develop an affidavit form that may be provided by a producer or grower of food to distributors and retailers and that may be included in shipments of food within the State certifying that the food being sold or shipped is not subject to the disclosure requirements of this chapter.’
Amend the bill in section 1 by renumbering the sections to read consecutively.
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 2 and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 2. Effective date; repeal.
1. Effective date. The Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry shall monitor legislative activities in other states and certify to the Secretary of State and the Revisor of Statutes when legislation substantially similar to this Act has been adopted by at least 5 contiguous states including Maine. The commissioner shall notify the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over agriculture, conservation and forestry matters when certification is made. That section of this Act that enacts the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, chapter 565 takes effect 30 days after the date of the commissioner's certification.
2. Repeal. If no certification has been made by the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry under subsection 1 before January 1, 2018, this Act is repealed on that date.’
SUMMARY
This amendment is one of 2 minority reports. It differs from the majority report by requiring substantially similar legislation to have been enacted in 5 contiguous states including Maine before it takes effect. The amendment adds a purpose section to the new chapter on genetically engineered products. It also changes the conditions governing the contingent effective date and the contingent repeal date of the bill. The amendment establishes a process for the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to report to the Secretary of State, the Revisor of Statutes and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over agriculture, conservation and forestry matters when 5 contiguous states including Maine have adopted substantially similar legislation. The amendment provides that the section of the bill that enacts Title 22, chapter 565 takes effect 30 days after the date of the commissioner's certification. The amendment also proposes to exempt from the labeling requirements of the bill food products derived from any highly refined ingredients, where the effect of the purification process is to remove DNA or novel protein.