“AquaBounty has always supported clear, transparent labeling of our bioengineered salmon, even before federal disclosure requirements were put in place, and while this new language will finally allow us to commercialize our FDA-approved bioengineered salmon, we believe it is completely unnecessary,” said the company in a press release.
The company, which expects to harvest its first batch of GM salmon from its farm in Indiana in June 2020, believes that it is being unjustly targeted in the US government’s new funding bill by a senator with an anti-GM agenda.
“Senator Murkowski continues to single out a small, innovative, American company in a misguided attempt to protect a parochial special interest when, in reality, the rider most benefits Chilean and Norwegian companies that currently export more Atlantic salmon to the US than any American company produces,” the company complains.
The firm goes on to assert the safety of their salmon from a consumer health perspective – as was confirmed by the FDA in 2015 – and claims that the new bill “imposes a mandate that targets a single company and product and calls into question the regulatory process and federal disclosure requirements”.
However, the company, which has tangled with the Republican senator for Alaska in the past, hopes that a solution can be reached.
“Moving forward, we will work with the FDA and USDA on how to comply with this vague new language,” the company explained.
