Proposal to Bar Altered Wheat Seems Doomed

NYTIMES
March 31, 2001

A bill that would prohibit planting genetically modified wheat in North Dakota for two years appears headed toward defeat, legislators in the state said yesterday.

The State Senate's Agriculture Committee amended the bill on Thursday to replace the moratorium with a study of the benefits and risks of genetically modified crops.

Senator Kenneth Kroeplin, a co- sponsor of the moratorium proposal, said that he would try to revive it on the floor of the Senate but conceded that the chances of success were slim. "The bill as is is pretty much dead," said Mr. Kroeplin, a Democrat.

The bill, which was approved by the state's House of Representatives by a wide margin, would have been the first state law banning a genetically modified crop. It has gotten further than a few dozen other state bills that would regulate such crops or require labeling of bioengineered foods.