II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1527 

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to order the recall 

of meat and poultry that is adulterated, misbranded, or otherwise unsafe. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 28, 2009 

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry 

Products Inspection Act to authorize the Secretary of 

Agriculture to order the recall of meat and poultry that 

is adulterated, misbranded, or otherwise unsafe. 

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 ‘‘Unsafe Meat and Poul5 try Recall Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RECALL AUTHORITY OVER MEAT AND MEAT FOOD 

2 PRODUCTS. 

3 (a) MANDATORY RECALLS AUTHORIZED.—The Fed4 eral Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating section 411 (21 U.S.C. 

7 680) as section 412; and 

8 (2) by inserting after section 410 (21 U.S.C. 

9 679a) the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 411. NOTIFICATION, NONDISTRIBUTION, AND RECALL 

11 OF ADULTERATED, MISBRANDED, AND 

12 OTHER UNSAFE MEAT PRODUCTS. 

13 ‘‘(a) MEAT PRODUCT DEFINED.—In this section, the 

14 term ‘meat product’ means a carcass, part of a carcass, 

15 meat, or meat food product of an amenable species. 

16 ‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION REQUIRED.— 

17 ‘‘(1) NOTICE TO SECRETARY.—A person that 

18 has reason to believe that a meat product handled 

19 by the person is in violation of this Act shall imme20 diately notify the Secretary, in such manner and by 

21 such means as the Secretary may by regulation pro22 mulgate, of the identity and location of the meat 

23 product. 

24 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirement to notify 

25 the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall not apply 

26 to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) consumers of meat products; and 

2 ‘‘(B) such other persons as the Secretary 

3 may exempt by regulation. 

4 ‘‘(c) VOLUNTARY NONDISTRIBUTION AND RECALL.— 

5 If the Secretary finds that a meat product is in violation 

6 of this Act and that there is a reasonable probability that 

7 human consumption of the meat product may present a 

8 threat to public health, the Secretary shall provide all ap9 propriate persons that handled the meat product, as deter10 mined by the Secretary, with an opportunity to— 

11 ‘‘(1) cease distribution of the meat product; 

12 ‘‘(2) notify all persons handling the meat prod13 uct to immediately cease distribution of the meat 

14 product; 

15 ‘‘(3) recall the meat product; and 

16 ‘‘(4) in consultation with the Secretary, provide 

17 notice to consumers to whom the meat product may 

18 have been distributed. 

19 ‘‘(d) MANDATORY ACTIONS.—If a person does not 

20 voluntarily take the actions described in subsection (c) 

21 with respect to a meat product within the time and in the 

22 manner prescribed by the Secretary, the Secretary may, 

23 by order, require such person to immediately— 

24 ‘‘(1) cease distribution of the meat product; 


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1 ‘‘(2) notify all persons handling the meat prod2 uct to immediately cease distribution of the meat 

3 product; and 

4 ‘‘(3) recall the meat product or take other ap5 propriate action, as determined by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(e) NOTICE TO CONSUMERS.—If the Secretary or7 ders a mandatory action under subsection (d), the Sec8 retary shall provide notice of the action to consumers to 

9 whom the meat product may have been distributed to the 

10 extent the Secretary considers necessary. 

11 ‘‘(f) NONDISTRIBUTION BY NOTIFIED PERSONS.—A 

12 person handling a meat product that receives notification 

13 under subsection (c) or (d) shall immediately cease dis14 tribution of the meat product. 

15 ‘‘(g) VACATION OF ORDER.—If, after providing an 

16 opportunity for a hearing on the record, the Secretary de17 termines that adequate grounds do not exist to continue 

18 the mandatory actions required by an order issued under 

19 subsection (d), the Secretary shall vacate the order. 

20 ‘‘(h) ADDITIONAL REMEDIES.—The remedies pro21 vided in this section are in addition to any other remedies 

22 that may be available under any other provision of law.’’. 

23 (b) DEFINITION OF PERSON.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1 of the Federal 

2 Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601) is amended by 

3 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

4 ‘‘(x) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ means any indi5 vidual, partnership, corporation, association, or other busi6 ness unit.’’. 

7 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Federal 

8 Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is 

9 amended— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘person, firm, or corpora11 tion’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘per12 son’’; 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘persons, firms, and cor14 porations’’ each place it appears and inserting 

15 ‘‘persons’’; and 

16 (C) by striking ‘‘persons, firms, or corpora17 tions’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘per18 sons’’. 

19 SEC. 3. RECALL AUTHORITY OVER POULTRY AND POULTRY 

20 FOOD PRODUCTS. 

21 The Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 

22 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 

23 new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 32. NOTIFICATION, NONDISTRIBUTION, AND RECALL 

2 OF ADULTERATED, MISBRANDED, AND 

3 OTHER UNSAFE POULTRY PRODUCTS. 

4 ‘‘(a) NOTIFICATION REQUIRED.— 

5 ‘‘(1) NOTICE TO SECRETARY.—A person that 

6 has reason to believe that a poultry product handled 

7 by the person is in violation of this Act shall imme8 diately notify the Secretary, in such manner and by 

9 such means as the Secretary may by regulation pro10 mulgate, of the identity and location of the poultry 

11 product. 

12 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirement to notify 

13 the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall not apply 

14 to— 

15 ‘‘(A) consumers of poultry products; and 

16 ‘‘(B) such other persons as the Secretary 

17 may exempt by regulation. 

18 ‘‘(b) VOLUNTARY NONDISTRIBUTION AND RECALL.— 

19 If the Secretary finds that a poultry product is in violation 

20 of this Act and that there is a reasonable probability that 

21 human consumption of the poultry product may present 

22 a threat to public health, the Secretary shall provide all 

23 appropriate persons that handled the poultry product, as 

24 determined by the Secretary, with an opportunity to— 

25 ‘‘(1) cease distribution of the poultry product; 


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1 ‘‘(2) notify all persons handling the poultry 

2 product to immediately cease distribution of the 

3 poultry product; 

4 ‘‘(3) recall the poultry product; and 

5 ‘‘(4) in consultation with the Secretary, provide 

6 notice to consumers to whom the poultry product 

7 may have been distributed. 

8 ‘‘(c) MANDATORY ACTIONS.—If a person does not 

9 voluntarily take the actions described in subsection (b) 

10 with respect to a poultry product within the time and in 

11 the manner prescribed by the Secretary, the Secretary 

12 may, by order, require the person to immediately— 

13 ‘‘(1) cease distribution of the poultry product; 

14 ‘‘(2) notify all persons handling the poultry 

15 product to immediately cease distribution of the 

16 poultry product; and 

17 ‘‘(3) recall the poultry product or take other ap18 propriate action, as determined by the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(d) NOTICE TO CONSUMERS.—If the Secretary or20 ders a mandatory action under subsection (c), the Sec21 retary shall provide notice of the action to consumers to 

22 whom the poultry product may have been distributed, to 

23 the extent the Secretary considers necessary. 

24 ‘‘(e) NONDISTRIBUTION BY NOTIFIED PERSONS.—A 

25 person handling a poultry product that receives notificaVerDate Nov 24 2008 16:15 Jul 29, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527

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1 tion under subsection (b) or (c) shall immediately cease 

2 distribution of the poultry product. 

3 ‘‘(f) VACATION OF ORDER.—If, after providing an 

4 opportunity for a hearing on the record, the Secretary de5 termines that adequate grounds do not exist to continue 

6 the mandatory actions required by an order issued under 

7 subsection (c), the Secretary shall vacate the order. 

8 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL REMEDIES.—The remedies pro9 vided in this section are in addition to any other remedies 

10 that may be available under any other provision of law.’’. 

Æ 


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