Monsanto Protection Act Signed into Law

By Marjan Asi, Press TV, Washington

While the hotly contested sequester was met with great fanfare in Washington, a little noticed provision protecting biotech corporations slipped virtually unnoticed into law. The so-called Monsanto Protection Act has now raised concerns for food safety groups and many are calling for its veto. 

The recent spending bill which threatened a government shutdown was signed into law last week, easing the minds of many Washington politicians. But lesser known is Section 735 of the bill, officially titled the Farmer Assurance Provision but since nicknamed the Monsanto Rider or the Monsanto Protection Act.

The provision protects large biotechnology companies like Monsanto from being taken to federal court should a genetically modified organism be discovered as being harmful to the consumer.
Some Congress people argue that the provision was a necessary concession in order to pass the spending bill to prevent a total shutdown of the federal government. But according to Colin O'Neil of the Center for Food Safety, this did not have to be the case.

Over 250,000 people have signed a petition demanding President Obama veto the Monsanto Protection Act.

Food advocacy groups are not the only ones upset. Civil rights organizations have also come out against this provision because of the secret nature in which it was passed, having been slipped into the bill not long before it was signed into law.

The provision did not follow traditional ways and was not discussed or debated in the appropriate Congressional committees.

Because the provision was passed as part of the spending bill and not as its own legislation, it is set to expire in six months. But many fear the possibility of the act becoming more permanent legislation.

President Obama has previously pushed for policies in favor of GMOs. In 2011, genetically-engineered alfalfa and sugar beets were deregulated in the United States.