Hill Letter on H.R. 4288, "Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act"

Dear Chairs Stabenow and Thompson and Ranking Members Boozman and Scott:

              The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports H.R. 4288, the “Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act,” and we urge your Committees to include this legislation as you craft the 2023 Farm Bill.

              America’s agriculture value chain depends on pesticides as a critical tool to deliver food security and increase production to feed more than 10 billion people globally by 2050. The safe use of pesticides yields farmers and landowners approximately 14 to 1 return-on-investment.

              This legislation would reaffirm federal pesticide labeling uniformity to clarify that while states have authority to regulate the sale and use of pesticides within their jurisdiction, they cannot impose labeling or packaging requirements in addition to or different from the science and risk-based conclusions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The business community relies on the certainty of such federal oversight that cannot be provided by a patchwork of state regulations.

              We are pleased to join the 360 national, state, and local business and agriculture organizations which recently sent a letter to Congressional leadership, underscoring the importance of a unified, science-based federal labeling approach as the Farm Bill debate proceeds.

Sincerely,

Neil L. Bradley
Executive Vice President, Chief Policy Officer,
and Head of Strategic Advocacy
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

cc: Members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry
      Members of the House Committee on Agriculture