I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7563 

To strengthen compliance with the FDA Food Traceability Rule, to enhance 

the FDA foodborne illness outbreak investigation process, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2024 

Mr. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, and 

Mr. PANETTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To strengthen compliance with the FDA Food Traceability 

Rule, to enhance the FDA foodborne illness outbreak 

investigation process, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Food Traceability En5 hancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EASING RECORDKEEPING AND TRACEABILITY LOT 

7 CODE REQUIREMENTS. 

8 Section 204(d) of the FDA Food Safety Moderniza9 tion Act (21 U.S.C. 2223(d)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘not more 

2 than 2 years’’ and inserting ‘‘not more than 1 year’’; 

3 and 

4 (2) in paragraph (6), by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(J) TRACEABILITY LOT CODES AT RETAIL

7 FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS, RESTAURANTS, AND

8 WAREHOUSES.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The requirements 

10 under this subsection shall not require res11 taurants, retail food establishments, and 

12 warehouses to maintain traceability lot 

13 code information or provide traceability lot 

14 code information to the Secretary or other 

15 entities in the supply chain. 

16 ‘‘(ii) WAREHOUSE DEFINED.—In this 

17 subparagraph, the term ‘warehouse’ means 

18 any facility primarily engaged in the stor19 age of food to be shipped to retail food es20 tablishments or restaurants.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. PILOT PROJECTS ON FOOD TRACING. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 

24 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec25 retary’’) shall conduct at least 9 pilot projects, in coordiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:22 Mar 12, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7563.IH H7563

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1 nation with food industry members operating restaurants, 

2 retail food establishments, and warehouses distributing to 

3 retail food establishments and restaurants, to— 

4 (1) measure the effectiveness of foodborne ill5 ness outbreak investigations conducted without the 

6 use of traceability lot code information; and 

7 (2) identify and evaluate the feasibility and ef8 fectiveness of low-cost food tracing technologies. 

9 (b) DIVERSITY.—In conducting the pilot projects re10 quired by subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

11 (1) conduct— 

12 (A) at least 3 pilot projects in coordination 

13 with restaurants; 

14 (B) at least 3 pilot projects in coordination 

15 with retail food establishments; and 

16 (C) at least 3 pilot projects in coordination 

17 with warehouses distributing to retail food es18 tablishments and restaurants; and 

19 (2) ensure that each pilot project uses at least 

20 1 commodity— 

21 (A) included in the Food Traceability List 

22 published by the Food and Drug Administra23 tion on November 21, 2022 (87 Fed. Reg. 

24 70916); and 

25 (B) not used in another such pilot project. 


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1 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

3 to Congress a report on the findings of the pilot projects 

4 required by subsection (a), including— 

5 (1) recommendations to minimize disruptions 

6 across the food supply chain; 

7 (2) recommendations to ensure product avail8 ability and diversity are not negatively impacted; 

9 (3) recommendations to reduce the compliance 

10 burden for small businesses covered by the final rule 

11 titled ‘‘Requirements for Additional Traceability 

12 Records for Certain Foods’’, published on November 

13 21, 2022 (87 Fed. Reg. 70910); 

14 (4) a list of low-cost food tracing technologies 

15 that are commercially available and an evaluation of 

16 the effectiveness of each technology; and 

17 (5) a list of all revisions that, as a result of 

18 such pilot projects, will be made to such final rule. 

19 SEC. 4. COMPLIANCE DATE OF FINAL RULE ON FOOD 

20 TRACEABILITY. 

21 The compliance date for the final rule titled ‘‘Re22 quirements for Additional Traceability Records for Cer23 tain Foods’’, published on November 21, 2022 (87 Fed. 

24 Reg. 70910), or any other rule promulgated in accordance 

25 with section 204 of the FDA Food Safety Modernization 


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1 Act (21 U.S.C. 2223), shall be no earlier than the date 

2 that is 2 years after the date on which the pilot projects 

3 required by section 3(a) are completed. 

4 SEC. 5. REPORT ON BARRIERS TO INFORMATION SHARING 

5 BETWEEN FDA AND FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS. 

6 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

8 shall submit to Congress a report, which shall include a 

9 list of all barriers, legal or otherwise, that prevent the 

10 Food and Drug Administration from sharing with retail 

11 food establishments and restaurants pertinent information 

12 regarding foodborne illness outbreak investigations, in13 cluding— 

14 (1) information surrounding early warning sig15 nals of foodborne illnesses; 

16 (2) reported consumer illnesses; and 

17 (3) suspected transmission vehicles of a 

18 foodborne illness. 

Æ 


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