The
so-called Monsanto Protection Act is set to expire, and will not be included in
a bill designed to avert a government shutdown, according to a statement
Tuesday from the press office of Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).
House Republicans earlier this month released legislation that would include an
extension of the Monsanto measure in their continuing resolution. The measure
shields sellers of genetically modified seeds from lawsuits, even if the
resulting crops cause harm.
Merkley has
opposed the measure since it quietly passed in March, when it was attached to
another spending resolution. Merkley led an online petition to oppose the
extension, and unsuccessfully offered an amendment to the farm bill intended to
kill what opponents have dubbed the Monsanto Protection Act. Monsanto is the
world's largest seed company.
Merkley
worked with legislative leaders to ensure the Farmer Assurance Provision rider
would expire before it could be extended. In a statement Tuesday evening, the
senator applauded those who helped him to avert the extension:
This is a
victory for all those who think special interests shouldn’t get special deals.
This secret rider, which was slipped into a must-pass spending bill earlier
this year, instructed the Secretary of Agriculture to allow GMO crops to be
cultivated and sold even when our courts had found they posed a potential risk
to farmers of nearby crops, the environment, and human health. I applaud the hundreds
of thousands of Americans who have worked hard to end this diabolical
provision.
The rider
is set to expire at the end of the month.
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