Just months after approving genetically modified ("GM") salmon, FDA has issued a ban on the import and sale of the fish until the agency can publish guidelines for how the fish should be labeled. In November 2015, FDA approved the first GM salmon, which contains a growth hormone gene to help the fish grow faster, after determining the salmon was as safe to consume as non-GM salmon (see our previous Jones Day Update). The ban was prompted by language, inserted at the request of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), in the recently passed federal spending bill. As reiterated in a November 2015 draft guidance, FDA's current policy is to require labeling of GM foods only if a material difference exists between the GM food and its unaltered counterpart. Although FDA found no such differences here, it intends to comply with the mandate and halt imports of the GM salmon until it issues labeling guidelines.

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