State Legislatures Introduce Bills on Pre-emption, Seed Treatments, Arbitration and More

  • On February 23, 2017

The state legislatures have settled into business. Bills have been filed, committees have been appointed, staffs are beginning to work long hours, and issues are starting to surface. ASTA is supporting legislation on arbitration and testing in Washington; legislation on pre-emption in Arkansas, Delaware, Missouri, Montana and Utah; and several state bills to re-align or clean-up  state seed laws. We’ll also be keeping an eye on quite a few bills dealing with the regulation of neonics and seed treatments.

A number of bills have also been introduced to add regulations to genetically engineered foods and crops. It’s interesting in light of the law passed by Congress last year that will establish labeling rules and pre-empt states from passing similar laws. ASTA’s policy supports all types of seed production technologies. All in all, it’s shaping up to be a very busy few months in the state legislatures! We’ll keep you posted as things progress.