USDA reportedly unable to broker GM labeling compromise.

• The food industry faces the impending July 1 effective date for Vermont’s labeling requirement for genetically modified (GM) foods with no imminent reprieve in sight.  Hopes of a 2015 federal legislative solution did not materialize.  The food industry’s legal challenge to Vermont’s law is still pending.  And recently, a major food company broke with many of its peers to announce its support for federally mandated GM labeling requirements.

• It has now been reported that consumer activists and food industry representatives have been meeting with the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, to try to negotiate a GM labeling compromise.  Unfortunately, after two meetings, discussions appear to have led nowhere.  Although Secretary Vilsack has not openly acknowledged his involvement in this process, a consumer activist blog reported that there was not enough common ground between the different groups to facilitate a resolution.

• The reported breakdown of informal discussions regarding GM labeling may not come as a surprise to either side in the debate.  As food companies continue their preparations to comply with Vermont’s labeling requirements later this year, many wonder what — if anything — will emerge as a workable solution for both sides.