As consumers increasingly seek to understand how and where their food was grown, Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey said draft legislation released by U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) will provide the food industry with the tools to voluntarily provide consumers with additional information about their food.

Specifically, Chairman Roberts’ legislation would establish a national voluntary bioengineered (biotech) food labeling standard and prohibit states from establishing state-level biotech food labeling requirements. The bill also calls on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in coordination with other federal agencies, to provide science-based information to consumers regarding food production.

“The Kansas Department of Agriculture strongly supports Sen. Roberts’ legislation to create a consistent, voluntary label for biotech food products in the United States,” said Secretary McClaskey. “We have seen individual states take up measures related to biotech food labeling, and the resulting patchwork of state-by-state laws would result in regulatory and financial burdens for food producers, and confusion among the consumers we aim to serve.”

Labeling legislation enacted in Vermont in 2015, for example, may cost consumers nationwide as much as $81.9 billion, or $1,050 per family, according to an economic impact analysis completed last month by John Dunham and Associates in New York.

Chairman Roberts intends to hold a hearing in the Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016, to consider the legislation. Secretary McClaskey strongly encourages all Senators on the Committee to support Senator Roberts’ bill. Similar legislation passed by a vote of 275-150 in the House of Representatives on July 23, 2015. The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act was introduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.).

The Kansas Department of Agriculture is committed to serving farmers and ranchers, and the consumers and customers they serve. Secretary McClaskey said the consumer outreach and education component in Sen. Roberts’ legislation relating to the “environmental, nutritional, economic, and humanitarian benefits of agricultural technology” will provide a critical service to all food producers and consumers.

“Farmers and ranchers across the United States face a daunting challenge in meeting the ever-growing global food demands,” said Secretary McClaskey. “Passage of this legislation will not only create a science-based, voluntary biotech labeling standard, but it will also provide necessary protections to ensure farmers and the food industry are able to continue utilizing agricultural technologies to grow and produce safe food. We look forward to working with our partners in agriculture, including other state departments of agriculture, to encourage the passage of this important legislation.”