Both sides agree that California could be a bellwether. "These are preliminary skirmishes for legislative and state ballot initiatives that are to come," says Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association, a non-profit group that promotes food safety and opposes biotech crops. "A ballot initiative in California that enacted mandatory labelling or enacted very strict liability would really cripple this industry".
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Calif. measures may sway nation
By John Ritter, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/2004-10-27-calprops_x.htm

SAN FRANCISCO - When California speaks, the rest of America usually listens, and voters here are poised once again to approve measures likely to reverberate in other states and Congress.

Long seen as the 800-pound gorilla of direct democracy, California was the first state or among the first to use citizen initiatives to cap property-tax increases, limit state legislators' terms, legalize medical marijuana and ban smoking in bars. Those pioneering votes inspired many imitators.....

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Initiatives on the ballot in 4 California counties could signal a major change in US agriculture

Marin, Butte, Humboldt and San Luis Obispo counties vote Tuesday on whether to ban the planting of genetically engineered crops. If the initiatives pass, those counties will join Mendocino, which became the first in the nation to ban such crops last spring, followed by Trinity County in August. Foes believe such crops have not been proven to be safe.

Both sides agree that California could be a bellwether. "These are preliminary skirmishes for legislative and state ballot initiatives that are to come," says Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association, a non-profit group that promotes food safety and opposes biotech crops. "A ballot initiative in California that enacted mandatory labelling or enacted very strict liability would really cripple this industry,"

Of the existing biotech crops - corn, soybeans, cotton, canola, summer squash and papaya - only small amounts of corn and cotton are actually grown in California. But in the Midwest and South, where biotech corn, soy, canola and cotton are widespread, bans would have major repercussions.

Dave Kranz of the California Farm Bureau says farmers think regulations should be enacted at the federal level.

By Elizabeth Weise
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Arcata fine-tunes anti-GMO ordinance
By Meghan Vogel
Eureka Times-Standard, October 22, 2004

ARCATA -- Although Measure M may get defeated on Nov. 2, Arcata could approve its own ordinance banning genetically modified organisms.

At its meeting on Wednesday night, the Arcata City Council honed a proposed ordinance that would ban GMOs within the city. The ordinance is based on a recently adopted ordinance in Trinity County and a pending ballot initiative in Sonoma County. The Community Environmental Defense Fund of Pennsylvania also provided input for Arcata's ordinance. The founder of the defense fund, Thomas Linzey, recently gave a presentation on corporate personhood at an Arcata town hall meeting.

Arcata's anti-GMO ordinance would make it unlawful to "sell, provide, propagate, cultivate, raise or grow" GMO crops in the city. If found, such crops would be deemed a public nuisance punishable by accelerated fines for each day the crop remains. If someone was found with a GMO crop two years in a row, a misdemeanor charge would be filed. Humboldt State University would be exempt from the ordinance because it is state property.

Greg Allen, a candidate for City Council who requested the city look at such an ordinance, had concerns about due process. He asked the city to consider the issue more thoroughly so people would not be deprived of their property illegally.

The City Council had questions about how GMO crops would be identified and if testing, which could cost the city money, would be needed. Also under consideration is to more clearly define who at the city would be responsible for enforcing the ordinance.

"We need to explore the enforcement issue," said City Manager Dan Hauser.

Hauser said the closest thing the city has to an agricultural commissioner who oversees crops would be Arcata's Environmental Services Department.

In addition to an anti-GMO ordinance, the council discussed possibly looking at an ordinance requiring the labeling of GMO foods in the future.

Jim Ferguson, who was the campaign manager for Measure M, an initiative on the November ballot banning GMOs in Humboldt County, said he was pleased with Arcata's proposed ordinance. He commended the work of City Attorney Nancy Diamond for "distilling the essence" of the other laws banning GMOs.

The group that authored Measure M is now urging voters to defeat it because of potential legal flaws in its text. Ferguson said Arcata's ordinance could become a model for the county instead of Measure M. It could also have repercussions outside of Arcata.

"This could be used in other cities in the nation as a possible blueprint for their own communities," Ferguson said.

The City Council will be considering adopting the ordinance at its next meeting on Nov. 3.