AUGUSTA, Maine - The Maine Legislature this week approved a major revision in the rules surrounding the use of genetically engineered crops in the state, changes that provide Maine's organic farmers protection against lawsuits and require specific growing practices for GE crops.
In the past, it has been the department's policy that GE crops do not differ, and are not to be treated separately, from conventional crops.
"The legislation is important in that it begins to clarify responsibility," Russell Libby, executive director of the Maine Organic Gardeners and Farmers Association said Wednesday. "By establishing Best Management Practices, this gets the [Maine] Department [of Agriculture] and farmers into a conversation about how to solve problems before they arise. To me, that is a good step forward."
Douglas Johnson of the Maine Biotechnology Information Bureau in Stonington, said the bill was a win-win piece of legislation.
"Farmers on both sides of the biotech issue had input into the final bill," he said. "Both sides can claim victory. This is what Maine needs, solutions that work for all farmers."
In the 10 years that GE crops have been grown in Maine, there have been no GE-related lawsuits here, although according to a study by the Center for Food Safety, more than 90 GE-based lawsuits have been filed against 147 farmers in 25 states. Most suits were against farmers because they saved seed from year to year, an age-old practice, yet they were charged with patent infringement.
GE advocates, however, say the protection could be unnecessary since the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in July 2007 rejected the four patents that chemical giant Monsanto was using to sue farmers. Monsanto has since appealed the ruling.
While hailing the protection it affords them, organic farmers said they are disappointed that an eleventh hour amendment that would have required a GE crop tracking system was not included in the final bill.
The use of GE crops is an issue around the globe for both farmers and consumers. It pits commodity farmers, who say the GE crops provide protection against pests and results in a better yield, against organic farmers who feel cross-contamination from GE crops adulterates their organic crops. Organic farmers also worry about the long-term effects on humans and nature.
Passage of the bill comes on the heels of a ground-breaking vote last month in Montville, a town of about 1,000 in Waldo County. On March 29, at their annual town meeting, Montville voters approved an ordinance making it unlawful to grow genetically engineered crops in Montville for the next 10 years.
It was the first such vote outside of California.
Logan Perkins of Protect Maine Farmers, a grass-roots group that advocated for the GE bill, said it provides Maine's farmers with new protections and assurances, and has taken nearly two years to craft.
The legislation:
ä Prevents lawsuits for patent infringement against farmers who unintentionally end up with genetically engineered material in their crops.
ä Ensures that lawsuits that do occur against farmers involving GE crops or seeds will be held in the state of Maine.
ä Directs the Maine Department of Agriculture to develop and implement Best Management Practices for GE crops. Previously, GE crops had the same BMP's as all other conventional and organic crops.
An amendment by the House of Representatives, that was not included in the final Senate version, would have required manufacturers of GE seed to submit an annual report to the Department of Agriculture giving the total number of potential acres that could be planted in each type of genetically engineered crop. Perkins said this would have allowed the Department of Agriculture to track the use of genetically engineered crops, see trends in their use, and be alerted to new crops coming into the state.
"While I am pleased with the step forward that we have taken here, I know that we have more work to do to ensure that policymakers have all the information they need to make good decisions in the future," the amendment's sponsor Rep. Benjamin Pratt, D-Eddington, said Wednesday.
Perkins said the bill is similar to laws in other states, including North and South Dakota and Indiana.
"Maine's farmers now have some substantial assurance that if they save seed that has been contaminated by genetically engineered varieties, they are not at risk for a lawsuit," Perkins said.
Spencer Aitel of Two Loons Farm in South China is an organic dairy farmer who saves corn seed. "It's good to know that I won't be sued for saving my seeds, but I would like to see a way to make the companies take responsibility for the losses this technology can cause when it contaminates my crops. Maybe next year, the Legislature can work on that," Aitel said Wednesday.
Perkins also praised the requirement that the Department of Agriculture implement Best Management Practices for GE crops.
"Until now farmers had to follow Best Management Practices for spreading manure, a practice in use on farms for thousands of years, yet there were no regulations for genetically engineered crops, a technology only a few years old," she said.