WASHINGTON — The Agricultural Marketing Service has certified the first company, SunOpta Inc., to label its food-grade soybeans and corn with a new, USDA non-GMO seal.

News of the new label, which has yet to be announced by USDA, leaked last week when the Associated Press reported on a May 1 letter by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to employees explaining an unnamed company was the first to be certified for a new USDA seal and that he expected more companies to follow. Soon after, SunOpta issued a press release identifying itself as the first to participate in the voluntary, fee-based audit program.

Under the AMS Process Verified Program, products at the company’s Hope, MN, facility are verified as non-GMO by meeting SunOpta’s non-GMO/non-GE standard. Products from that plant would be shipped with the new label, but consumers would not see the process verified label on finished products at retail.

“Becoming the first PVP-verified non-GMO food manufacturing facility in the United States is a great honor for SunOpta and consistent with our commitment to non-GMO and organic food products, which are in high demand with today's consumers,” said SunOpta Chief Executive Officer Steve Bromley. “Having USDA verify that we are complying with our standards ensures that our customers can be confident that they are getting the highest quality non-GMO soybeans and corn. We look forward to implementing the USDA PVP program at other SunOpta facilities across our vertically integrated platform.”

Many companies use a private label created by the non-profit Non-GMO Project, which criticized the AMS process verification program as not transparent and not based on a third-party standard.

“For now, the only non-GMO label in the marketplace based on third-party verification to transparent, consistent standards continues to be the Non-GMO Project butterfly,” the group said in a statement last week. “This seal is your assurance that a product has met rigorous best practices, including ongoing testing, and has passed third-party audits and inspections for GMO avoidance. To date, the Non-GMO Project has verified more than 31,000 products.”

USDA would establish its own GMO-free standard under legislation introduced in March by Reps. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) and G. K. Butterfield (D-NC). Backed by the food industry, the Safe & Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015 (H.R. 1599) would also preempt states from passing their own mandatory labeling laws for genetically engineered foods.

The United Fresh Produce Association said it supports a federal solution to the patchwork of states passing different laws on GM labeling.

"Any labeling standard — whether for labeling of GMO foods or non-GMO labeling — must be a national framework, not a state-by-state hodgepodge,” United Fresh said in a statement. “We encourage Congress to take steps to ensure that federal standards prevail in food labeling, and that FDA determine what labeling is necessary in accordance with its food-safety responsibility.”