THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	85
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING HAWAII'S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO CLARIFY FOOD LABELING REQUIREMENTS PERTAINING TO GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS.

 

 

     WHEREAS, requiring food labels to indicate whether or not the food is genetically modified is a hotly contested issue in the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, in recent years, bills introduced in the Hawaii State Legislature have also engendered a plethora of passionate testimony; and

 

     WHEREAS, federal statutes and rules are silent on mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition has published a "Guidance for Industry Voluntary Labeling Indicating Whether Foods Have or Have Not Been Developed Using Bioengineering" (last updated February 21, 2014); and

 

     WHEREAS, the publication states, "In the 1992 policy, FDA also addresses the labeling of foods derived from new plant varieties, including plants developed by bioengineering.  The 1992 policy does not establish special labeling requirements for bioengineered foods as a class of foods." (emphasis added); and

 

     WHEREAS, the publication states in part:  "This draft guidance represents FDA's current thinking on voluntary labeling of foods indicating whether foods have or have not been developed using bioengineering.  It does not create or confer any rights for or on any person and does not operate to bind FDA or the public"; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to an online monogram of the Legal Information Institute of Cornell University Law School on federal preemption, "When state law and federal law conflict, federal law displaces, or preempts, state law, due to the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. U.S. Const. art. VI., § 2. Preemption applies regardless of whether the conflicting laws come from legislatures, courts, administrative agencies, or constitutions.  For example, the Voting Rights Act, an act of Congress, preempts state constitutions"; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of the United States Congress to pass laws that resolve nationwide inconsistencies in laws, and to this end, Congress needs to pass legislation to clarify food labeling requirements; and

 

     WHEREAS, a federal legislative solution should protect consumers by eliminating confusion and advancing food safety, while ensuring that food remains affordable; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, that Hawaii's congressional delegation is requested to introduce legislation in the United States Congress to clarify food labeling requirements pertaining to genetically modified organisms; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to each member of Hawaii's congressional delegation, the Governor, the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, the Mayor of the County of Hawaii, the Mayor of the County of Kauai, and the Mayor of the County of Maui.

Report Title:

Genetically Modified Organisms; Labeling; Federal Legislation