(NaturalNews) The Grocery Manufacturer's Association (GMA) has been ordered to pay a record-breaking $18 million fine for concealing the identity of corporate donors in a 2013 effort to defeat a GMO food-labeling initiative in Washington state.

In a 24-page ruling, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Anne Hirsch castigated the GMA for "intentionally" violating Washington campaign finance laws.

The $18 million fine was based on the tripling of a $6 million civil penalty due to the intentional nature of the violation.

In 2013, the GMA donated more than $11 million to the "No on 522" anti-GMO labeling campaign - if passed, Initiative 522 would have required labeling of GMO foods and seeds sold in Washington state.