• While much attention in the area of genetically modified organism (GMO) legislation has previously focused on labeling laws such as Vermont’s labeling law and, more recently, the federal GMO bill signed into law on July 29, 2016, various local jurisdictions have considered or enacted local bans on the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops.
  • Earlier this month, legislation was introduced in the Oregon state legislature that would repeal parts of a 2013 Oregon law that preempts local county laws or rules from regulating farm practices, including restrictions on the cultivation of GM crops.  In other words, if the proposed legislation becomes law, various local county governments would be authorized to implement local legislation banning the cultivation of GM crops.  For example, the passage of this bill would revive a GMO ban approved in May 2014 in Josephine County, Oregon.
  • The introduction of this legislation highlights the continued conflicts and tensions surrounding the cultivation of GM foods in the U.S.  The success of this latest effort to ban GMO cultivation at the local level remains to be seen.