I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3083

To amend the country of origin labeling requirements of the Agricultural 

Marketing Act of 1946 to specify the model upon which the certification 

program for producers shall be based, to facilitate verification of compliance with the requirements, to impose a schedule of penalties for violation 

of the requirements, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2003

Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota (for himself, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. 

OBERSTAR, Mr. JANKLOW, and Ms. MCCOLLUM) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL

To amend the country of origin labeling requirements of 

the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to specify the 

model upon which the certification program for producers 

shall be based, to facilitate verification of compliance 

with the requirements, to impose a schedule of penalties 

for violation of the requirements, 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 ‘‘Country of Origin La5 beling Amendment Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. REVISED COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING REQUIRE2 MENTS. 

3 The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 is amended 

4 by striking subtitle D (7 U.S.C. 1638 et seq.) and insert5 ing the following new subtitle: 

6 ‘‘Subtitle D—Country of Origin 

7 Labeling 

8 ‘‘SEC. 281. DEFINITIONS. 

9 ‘‘In this subtitle: 

10 ‘‘(1) BEEF.—The term ‘beef’ means meat pro11 duced from cattle (including veal). 

12 ‘‘(2) COVERED COMMODITY.—

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered 

14 commodity’ means—

15 ‘‘(i) muscle cuts of beef, lamb, and 

16 pork; 

17 ‘‘(ii) ground beef, ground lamb, and 

18 ground pork; 

19 ‘‘(iii) farm-raised fish; 

20 ‘‘(iv) wild fish; 

21 ‘‘(v) a perishable agricultural com22 modity; and 

23 ‘‘(vi) peanuts. 

24 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘covered 

25 commodity’ does not include an item described 
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1 in subparagraph (A) if the item is an ingredient 

2 in a processed food item. 

3 ‘‘(3) FARM-RAISED FISH.—The term ‘farm4 raised fish’ includes—

5 ‘‘(A) farm-raised shellfish; and 

6 ‘‘(B) fillets, steaks, nuggets, and any other 

7 flesh from a farm-raised fish or shellfish. 

8 ‘‘(4) FOOD SERVICE ESTABLISHMENT.—The 

9 term ‘food service establishment’ means a res10 taurant, cafeteria, lunch room, food stand, saloon, 

11 tavern, bar, lounge, or other similar facility operated 

12 as an enterprise engaged in the business of selling 

13 food to the public. The term may include a retailer, 

14 but only to the extent that the retailer provides a 

15 salad bar or prepared-food bar containing ready-to16 eat food that the consumer packages for purchase. 

17 ‘‘(5) LAMB.—The term ‘lamb’ means meat, 

18 other than mutton, produced from sheep. 

19 ‘‘(6) PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY; 

20 RETAILER.—The terms ‘perishable agricultural com21 modity’ and ‘retailer’ have the meanings given the 

22 terms in section 1(b) of the Perishable Agricultural 

23 Commodities Act of 1930 (7 U.S.C. 499a(b)). 

24 ‘‘(7) PORK.—The term ‘pork’ means meat pro25 duced from hogs. 
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1 ‘‘(8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

2 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Ag3 ricultural Marketing Service. 

4 ‘‘(9) WILD FISH.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘wild fish’ 

6 means naturally born or hatchery-raised fish 

7 harvested in the wild and shellfish harvested in 

8 the wild. 

9 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘wild fish’ 

10 includes a fillet, steak, nugget, and any other 

11 flesh from wild fish or shellfish. 

12 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘wild fish’ 

13 excludes netpen aquacultural or other farm14 raised fish. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 282. NOTICE OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN. 

16 ‘‘(a) NOTICE OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN REQUIRED.—

17 Except as provided in subsection (c), a retailer of a cov18 ered commodity shall inform consumers, at the final point 

19 of sale of the covered commodity to consumers, of the 

20 country of origin of the covered commodity. 

21 ‘‘(b) UNITED STATES COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.—A re22 tailer of a covered commodity may designate the covered 

23 commodity as having a United States country of origin 

24 only if the covered commodity—
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1 ‘‘(1) in the case of beef, is exclusively from an 

2 animal that is exclusively born, raised, and slaugh3 tered in the United States (including from an animal 

4 exclusively born and raised in Alaska or Hawaii and 

5 transported for a period not to exceed 60 days 

6 through Canada to the United States and slaugh7 tered in the United States); 

8 ‘‘(2) in the case of lamb and pork, is exclusively 

9 from an animal that is exclusively born, raised, and 

10 slaughtered in the United States; 

11 ‘‘(3) in the case of farm-raised fish, is hatched, 

12 raised, harvested, and processed in the United 

13 States; 

14 ‘‘(4) in the case of wild fish—

15 ‘‘(A) is harvested in the United States or 

16 a territory of the United States, if the wild fish 

17 is harvested in a river, stream, or lake; or 

18 ‘‘(B) is harvested by a vessel that is docu19 mented under chapter 121 of title 46, United 

20 States Code, or registered in the United States, 

21 if the wild fish is harvested at sea; and 

22 ‘‘(5) in the case of a perishable agricultural 

23 commodity or peanuts, is exclusively produced in the 

24 United States. 
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1 ‘‘(6) WILD FISH AND FARM-RAISED FISH.—The 

2 notice of country of origin for wild fish and farm3 raised fish shall distinguish between wild fish and 

4 farm-raised fish. 

5 ‘‘(c) EXEMPTION FOR FOOD SERVICE ESTABLISH6 MENTS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to a covered com7 modity if the covered commodity is—

8 ‘‘(1) prepared or served in a food service estab9 lishment; and 

10 ‘‘(2)(A) offered for sale or sold at the food serv11 ice establishment in normal retail quantities; or 

12 ‘‘(B) served to consumers at the food service es13 tablishment. 

14 ‘‘(d) METHOD OF NOTIFICATION.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The information required 

16 by subsection (a) may be provided to consumers by 

17 means of a label, stamp, mark, placard, or other 

18 clear and visible sign on the covered commodity or 

19 on the package, display, holding unit, or bin con20 taining the commodity at the final point of sale to 

21 consumers. 

22 ‘‘(2) LABELED COMMODITIES.—If the covered 

23 commodity is already individually or otherwise la24 beled for retail sale regarding country of origin, the 
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1 retailer shall not be required to provide any addi2 tional information to comply with this section. 

3 ‘‘(e) USE OF EXISTING RECORDS TO VERIFY COM4 PLIANCE.—The Secretary shall use existing records, such 

5 as inventory and tax records, to verify that any person 

6 that prepares, stores, handles, or distributes a covered 

7 commodity for retail sale complies with this subtitle, in8 cluding the regulations promulgated under section 284(b). 

9 Such records may be maintained at the point of sale or 

10 at a centralized distribution center. 

11 ‘‘(f) INFORMATION ON COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.—Any 

12 person engaged in the business of supplying a covered 

13 commodity to a retailer shall provide information to the 

14 retailer indicating the country of origin of the covered 

15 commodity. 

16 ‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION OF ORIGIN.—

17 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

18 shall carry out a program that provides for the self19 certification by producers of the country of origin of 

20 covered commodities. In establishing the program, 

21 the Secretary shall use as a model the procedures 

22 contained in part 589.2000 of title 21, Code of Fed23 eral Regulations, regarding animal proteins prohib24 ited in ruminant feed. 
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1 ‘‘(2) THIRD PARTY AUDITS.—Except as pro2 vided in paragraph (3), the Secretary shall prohibit 

3 any third party audit or verification of producer 

4 compliance with country of origin labeling. 

5 ‘‘(3) VERIFICATION.—To verify producer com6 pliance with country of origin requirements under 

7 the certification program, the Secretary shall use 

8 Department of Agriculture records of imports and 

9 existing producer records, such as tax records, sale 

10 receipts, brand records, feed bills, birth records, re11 ceiving records, breeding stock records, health 

12 records, or animal inventory records. 

13 ‘‘(h) PRODUCER PROTECTION.—A retailer or other 

14 person subject to this section may not require, as a condi15 tion of the purchase of beef, lamb, or pork or of live cattle, 

16 hogs, or sheep from a producer or packer, that the pro17 ducer or packer—

18 ‘‘(1) indemnify the retailer or other person from 

19 any liability arising from a violation of this section; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(2) produce records or other documentation to 

22 verify the country of origin of the beef, lamb, or 

23 pork or of the live cattle, hogs, or sheep. 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 283. ENFORCEMENT. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub3 sections (b) and (c), section 253 shall apply to a violation 

4 of this subtitle in addition to violations of subtitle B. 

5 ‘‘(b) WARNINGS.—If the Secretary determines that a 

6 retailer is in violation of section 282, the Secretary shall—

7 ‘‘(1) notify the retailer of the determination of 

8 the Secretary; and 

9 ‘‘(2) provide the retailer a 30-day period, begin10 ning on the date on which the retailer receives the 

11 notice under paragraph (1) from the Secretary, dur12 ing which the retailer may take necessary steps to 

13 comply with section 282. 

14 ‘‘(c) CIVIL PENALTY.—If, on completion of the 30-

15 day period described in subsection (b)(2), the Secretary 

16 determines that the retailer has willfully violated section 

17 282, after providing notice and an opportunity for a hear18 ing before the Secretary with respect to the violation, the 

19 Secretary may assess a civil penalty against the retailer 

20 in an amount of $100 for the first day of the violation. 

21 The civil penalty amount shall double for each subsequent 

22 day that the retailer is in noncompliance for the same vio23 lation, except that the total amount of the civil penalty 

24 assessed for a single violation may not exceed $5,000. 

25 ‘‘(d) ADULTERATION AND MISBRANDING.—The Sec26 retary may not treat a covered commodity as either adul-
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1 terated or misbranded under the Federal Meat Inspection 

2 Act (7 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or any other provision of law 

3 by reason of the failure of the covered commodity to com4 ply with the country of origin requirements of section 282. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 284. REGULATIONS. 

6 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than September 30, 

7 2004, the Secretary shall promulgate such regulations as 

8 are necessary to implement this subtitle. 

9 ‘‘(b) PARTNERSHIPS WITH STATES.—In promul10 gating the regulations, the Secretary shall, to the max11 imum extent practicable, enter into partnerships with 

12 States with enforcement infrastructure to assist in the ad13 ministration of this subtitle. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 285. APPLICABILITY. 

15 ‘‘This subtitle shall apply to the retail sale of a cov16 ered commodity beginning September 30, 2004.’’.

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