Food industry trade groups have tapped Hogan Lovells to challenge a first-of-its-kind state law requiring the labeling of genetically engineered food. In a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. district court in Burlington, Vt., the trade groups argue that Vermont’s government exceeded its constitutional authority by enacting the groundbreaking labeling law on May 8. They argue that the law, which goes into effect in 2016, violates the First Amendment as well as the Commerce Clause.
Vermont is “prohibiting manufacturers from describing their products in terms of their choosing, without anything close to a sufficient justification,” the trade groups wrote. “The state is forcing the cost of this experiment on out-of-state companies and citizens to which it is not politically accountable, and it is undermining and impeding the federal government’s interest in uniform, nationwide standards for food labeling.”
