II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1300 

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a voluntary 

program for the provision of country of origin information with respect 

to certain agricultural products, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2005 

Mr. SANTORUM (for himself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a voluntary program for the provision of country 

of origin information with respect to certain agricultural 

products, 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 Promotion Act 

5 of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. REPLACEMENT OF MANDATORY COUNTRY OF ORI2 GIN LABELING WITH VOLUNTARY PROGRAM 

3 OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING. 

4 Subtitle D of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 

5 (7 U.S.C. 1638–1638d) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘Subtitle D—Voluntary Country of 

7 Origin Labeling 

8 ‘‘SEC. 281. VOLUNTARY PROGRAM OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN 

9 LABELING FOR CERTAIN MEAT PRODUCTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) BEEF.—The term ‘beef’ means meat pro12 duced from cattle (including veal). 

13 ‘‘(2) COVERED MEAT PRODUCT.—The term 

14 ‘covered meat product’ means ground beef, ground 

15 pork, and ground lamb, and fresh muscle cuts of 

16 beef, pork and lamb. 

17 ‘‘(3) LAMB.—The term ‘lamb’ means meat pro18 duced from sheep. 

19 ‘‘(4) PORK.—The term ‘pork’ means meat pro20 duced from swine. 

21 ‘‘(b) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING.—The Sec22 retary of Agriculture (referred to in this subtitle as the 

23 ‘Secretary’) shall establish a voluntary program of country 

24 of origin labeling for covered meat products. 

25 ‘‘(c) LABEL.—In the program established under sub26 section (b), the Secretary shall— 
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1 ‘‘(1) create a label to be used to designate the 

2 country of origin of covered meat products; and 

3 ‘‘(2) require persons participating in the pro4 gram to use the label created under paragraph (1), 

5 or such other label as the Secretary determines ap6 propriate, to designate the country of origin of cov7 ered meat products. 

8 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON USE OF UNITED STATES COUN9 TRY OF ORIGIN LABEL.—A person participating in the 

10 program established under subsection (b) may not des11 ignate a covered meat product as having a United States 

12 country of origin unless the covered meat product is de13 rived exclusively from— 

14 ‘‘(1) an animal born, raised, and slaughtered in 

15 the United States; or 

16 ‘‘(2) an animal born and raised in Alaska or 

17 Hawaii, transported for a period not to exceed 60 

18 days outside of those States, and slaughtered in the 

19 United States. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 282. VOLUNTARY PROGRAM OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN 

21 LABELING FOR FISH PRODUCTS. 

22 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) COVERED FISH.—The term ‘covered 

24 fish’means— 

25 ‘‘(A) wild fish; 
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1 ‘‘(B) wild shellfish; 

2 ‘‘(C) farm-raised fish; 

3 ‘‘(D) farm-raised shellfish; and 

4 ‘‘(E) products of fish described in subpara5 graphs (A) throught (D). 

6 ‘‘(2) FARM-RAISED FISH.—The term ‘farm7 raised fish’— 

8 ‘‘(A) means all fish that are not wild fish; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(B) includes net-pen, aquacultural, and 

11 other farm-raised fish. 

12 ‘‘(3) FARM-RAISED SHELLFISH.—The term 

13 ‘farm-raised shellfish’ means— 

14 ‘‘(A) all shellfish that are not wild shell15 fish; and 

16 ‘‘(B) includes net-pen, aquacultural, and 

17 other farm-raised fish. 

18 ‘‘(4) WILD FISH.—The term ‘wild fish’ means 

19 naturally-born or hatchery-raised fish harvested in 

20 the wild. 

21 ‘‘(5) WILD SHELLFISH.—The term ‘wild shell22 fish’ means naturally-born or hatchery-raised shell23 fish harvested in the wild. 
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1 ‘‘(b) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING.—The Sec2 retary shall establish a voluntary program of country of 

3 origin labeling for covered fish. 

4 ‘‘(c) LABEL.—In the program established under sub5 section (b), the Secretary shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) create a label to be used to designate the 

7 country of origin of covered fish; and 

8 ‘‘(2) require persons participating in the pro9 gram to use the label created under paragraph (1), 

10 or such other label as the Secretary determines ap11 propriate, to designate the country of origin of cov12 ered fish. 

13 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON USE OF UNITED STATES COUN14 TRY OF ORIGIN LABEL.—A person participating in the 

15 program established under subsection (b) may not des16 ignate covered fish as having a United States country of 

17 origin unless— 

18 ‘‘(1) in the case of wild fish or wild shellfish (or 

19 a product thereof), the wild fish or wild shellfish 

20 is— 

21 ‘‘(A) harvested in the waters of the United 

22 States or by a United States vessel on the high 

23 seas; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) processed in the United States or 

2 aboard a United States vessel on the high seas; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(2) in the case of farm-raised fish or farm5 raised shellfish (or a product thereof), the farm6 raised fish or farm-raised shellfish is raised and har7 vested in the United States. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 283. VOLUNTARY PROGRAM OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN 

9 LABELING FOR PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL 

10 COMMODITIES. 

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL

12 COMMODITY.—In this section, the term ‘perishable agri13 cultural commodity’— 

14 ‘‘(1) means fresh fruits and vegetables of every 

15 kind and character, except frozen fruits and vegeta16 bles; and 

17 ‘‘(2) includes cherries packed in brine, as de18 fined by the Secretary in accordance with trade us19 ages. 

20 ‘‘(b) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING.—The Sec21 retary shall establish a voluntary program of country of 

22 origin labeling for perishable agricultural commodities. 

23 ‘‘(c) LABEL.—In the program established under sub24 section (b), the Secretary shall— 
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1 ‘‘(1) create a label to be used to designate the 

2 country of origin of perishable agricultural commod3 ities; and 

4 ‘‘(2) require persons participating in the pro5 gram to use the label created under paragraph (1), 

6 or such other label as the Secretary determines ap7 propriate, to designate the country of origin of per8 ishable agricultural commodities. 

9 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON USE OF UNITED STATES COUN10 TRY OF ORIGIN LABEL.—A person participating in the 

11 program established under subsection (b) may not des12 ignate a perishable agricultural commodity as having a 

13 United States country of origin unless the perishable agri14 cultural commodity is exclusively grown in the United 

15 States. 

16 ‘‘(e) SURVEY OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING; 

17 PURPOSE.— 

18 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF LABEL.—In this sub19 section, the term ‘label’ means a method to provide 

20 information to consumers by means of a stamp, 

21 mark, placard, or other clear and visible sign (in22 cluding printed packaging, cello wraps, twist ties, 

23 brand tags, bands, stickers, or other identifiers) af24 fixed to or placed directly on a perishable agricul25 tural commodity or on the display, holding unit, or 
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1 bin containing the commodity at the final point of 

2 sale. 

3 ‘‘(2) SURVEY REQUIRED; INTERVALS.—Subject 

4 to subsection (f)(2)(C), during the 1 year beginning 

5 on the date of the enactment of the Food Promotion 

6 Act of 2005, and every 2 years thereafter, the Sec7 retary shall conduct, using existing resources, a na8 tional survey— 

9 ‘‘(A) to estimate the types and quantities 

10 of perishable agricultural commodities sold in 

11 the United States that are labeled with respect 

12 to country of origin; 

13 ‘‘(B) to measure the extent of the vol14 untary efforts of the perishable agricultural 

15 commodity industry to provide country of origin 

16 information to consumers, including the overall 

17 percentage of perishable agricultural commod18 ities that bear labels with country of origin in19 formation; 

20 ‘‘(C) to determine methods by which coun21 try of origin information is provided with re22 gard to perishable agricultural commodities sold 

23 in the United States; 

24 ‘‘(D) to estimate the types and quantities 

25 of perishable agricultural commodities sold in 
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1 the United States that are labeled, but for 

2 which no country of origin information is pro3 vided; 

4 ‘‘(E) to estimate the types and quantities 

5 of perishable agricultural commodities sold in 

6 the United States that are not labeled; 

7 ‘‘(F) to estimate the extent of participation 

8 in the voluntary program established under sub9 section (b); and 

10 ‘‘(G) to determine whether consumers can 

11 reasonably ascertain the country of origin of a 

12 substantial majority of perishable agricultural 

13 commodities for sale. 

14 ‘‘(3) LOCATION OF SURVEY.—The survey may 

15 be conducted at retail stores and other locations se16 lected by the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—For the pur18 poses of conducting the survey, the Secretary shall 

19 consider— 

20 ‘‘(A) bulk displays containing covered per21 ishable agricultural commodities from more 

22 than 1 country to be labeled with country of or23 igin information if a majority of the perishable 

24 agricultural commodities in the bulk display 

25 bear country of origin labels; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) label information regarding a State, 

2 region, or locality of the United States as infor3 mation sufficient to identify the United States 

4 as the country of origin. 

5 ‘‘(f) USE AND AVAILABILITY OF SURVEY RE6 SULTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

8 shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the 

9 House of Representatives and the Committee on Ag10 riculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a 

11 report describing the results of each survey con12 ducted under subsection (e). 

13 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT SURVEYS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION OF CONSUMER

15 AWARENESS.—In each survey other than the 

16 first survey conducted under subsection (e), if 

17 the Secretary determines that consumers can18 not reasonably ascertain the country of origin 

19 of a substantial majority of perishable agricul20 tural commodities, the Secretary shall include 

21 in the report submitted under paragraph (1) 

22 with respect to that survey— 

23 ‘‘(i) specific action steps that would 

24 provide the perishable agricultural com25 modity distribution chain with incentives to 
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1 increase country of origin labeling levels; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) proposed guidelines that would 

4 increase the use of country of origin identi5 fication labels. 

6 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO ASCERTAIN

7 COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.—If the Secretary deter8 mines that consumers cannot reasonably ascer9 tain the country of origin of a substantial ma10 jority of perishable agricultural commodities in 

11 2 consecutive surveys conducted under sub12 section (e), the Secretary shall include in the 

13 report submitted under paragraph (1) with re14 spect to the second of the 2 surveys such rec15 ommendations as the Secretary determines ap16 propriate regarding ways to increase labeling to 

17 achieve that goal. 

18 ‘‘(C) EFFECT OF ABILITY TO ASCERTAIN

19 COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.—If the Secretary makes 

20 the determination that consumers can reason21 ably ascertain the country of origin of a sub22 stantial majority of perishable agricultural com23 modities in 2 consecutive surveys conducted 

24 under subsection (e), the Secretary shall no 
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1 longer be required to conduct surveys under 

2 that subsection. 

3 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary 

4 shall make the results of each survey conducted 

5 under subsection (e) available to the perishable agri6 cultural commodity industry and the public. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 284. VERIFICATION. 

8 ‘‘The Secretary may require participants in a pro9 gram of country of origin labeling under section 281, 282, 

10 or 283 to maintain a verifiable recordkeeping audit trail 

11 that will permit the Secretary to verify compliance with 

12 the program. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 285. ENFORCEMENT. 

14 ‘‘(a) CIVIL PENALTY.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary may assess 

16 a civil penalty against a participant in a program of 

17 country of origin labeling under section 281, 282, or 

18 283 that purposely or knowingly violates the terms 

19 of the program. 

20 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PENALTY.—The amount of a 

21 civil penalty assessed under paragraph (1) may not 

22 exceed $10,000 for each violation. 

23 ‘‘(3) CONTINUING VIOLATION.—Each day dur24 ing which a violation continues shall be considered to 

25 be a separate violation. 
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1 ‘‘(b) NOTICE AND HEARING.—The Secretary may not 

2 assess a penalty under subsection (a) against a person un3 less the person is given notice and an opportunity for a 

4 hearing in accordance with section 554 of title 5, United 

5 States Code, with respect to the violation for which the 

6 person is being assessed. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 286. REGULATIONS. 

8 ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact9 ment of the Food Promotion Act of 2005, the Secretary 

10 shall promulgate regulations to carry out this subtitle.’’.

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