Pamela Bailey, President and CEO of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and Chuck Conner, President and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, released a statement this week calling on Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow to quickly find compromise on a path forward for potential GMO labeling legislation prior to the implementation of Vermont’s state labeling law on July 1. Bailey and Conner serve as the co-chairs of the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food, of which ASA is a steering committee member.

"It is imperative that Chairman Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow reach an agreement this week on the biotech labeling bill.  There is simply no more time for a compromise to be reached,” wrote Bailey and Conner.

“The issues are well defined, have been fully debated, and now it is time to get in a room and reach a final deal.  We are confident that a Roberts-Stabenow compromise will get 60 votes in the Senate and will be passed by the House before the Vermont law goes into effect on July 1.  However, for this to happen a Roberts-Stabenow compromise must be reached this week.  We and the 800 other Coalition member organizations nationwide stand ready to support the compromise once announced and work for rapid passage. The clock is ticking louder by the day and the stakes couldn't be higher for the agriculture and food industry."