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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1412

To establish a National Shellfish Safety Program.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 18, 1993

Mrs. UNSOELD introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Merchant Marine and Fisheries and Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To establish a National Shellfish Safety Program.

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 ‘‘Shellfish Safety Act

5 of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

7 The purposes of this Act are to—

8 (1) protect against the hazards to human

9 health associated with the consumption of shellfish;

10 and
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1 (2) ensure the public confidence in the whole2 someness and labeling of shellfish products

3 consumed in the United States.

4 SEC. 3. NATIONAL SHELLFISH SAFETY PROGRAM.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 9 months after

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in

7 consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, other appro8 priate Federal agencies and the Conference shall establish

9 a National Shellfish Safety Program to carry out the pur10 poses of this Act.

11 (b) GUIDELINES.—The National Shellfish Safety

12 Program established under subsection (a) shall include the

13 issuance of guidelines for—

14 (1) shellfish growers, shellfish harvesters, shell15 fish shippers, and their vessels;

16 (2) water quality of shellfish growing and har17 vesting areas;

18 (3) monitoring the movement of domestic and

19 imported shellfish in interstate commerce;

20 (4) monitoring and controlling biotoxins and

21 other naturally occurring pathogens and bacterial,

22 viral, and chemical contaminants in shellfish; and

23 (5) such other matters as are necessary to carry

24 out the purposes of this Act.
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1 (c) EXISTING GUIDELINES.—The Program shall be

2 consistent with guidelines adopted by the Conference pur3 suant to the Memorandum of Understanding between the

4 Conference and the Food and Drug Administration, dated

5 March 14, 1984.

6 (d) REVIEW AND REVISION.—The Secretary, in con7 sultation with the Conference, shall periodically review and

8 revise the Program to ensure that the program continues

9 to carry out the purposes of this Act.

10 SEC. 4. DOMESTIC SHELLFISH SAFETY.

11 (a) STATE SHELLFISH SAFETY PROGRAMS.—Each

12 shellfish producing State shall submit to the Secretary,

13 within 6 months after the establishment of the Program

14 and annually thereafter—

15 (1) a proposed State shellfish safety program

16 to—

17 (A) manage its shellfish safety program

18 consistent with the Program;

19 (B) monitor and classify shellfish growing

20 and harvest areas in the State consistent with

21 the Program;

22 (C) establish procedures for the closure

23 and reopening of shellfish growing and harvest

24 areas in the State that do not meet the stand25 ards of the Program;
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1 (D) certify those shellfish shippers in the

2 State that comply with the requirements of the

3 Program; and

4 (E) provide adequate monitoring and en5 forcement to ensure that standards and proce6 dures established under the Program are met.

7 (b) CERTIFIED SHELLFISH SHIPPERS LIST.—Each

8 State shall submit to the Secretary each month, a list of

9 those shellfish shippers that are certified by the State as

10 meeting the requirements of the Program.

11 (c) CLASSIFIED WATERS LIST.—Each shellfish pro12 ducing State shall submit to the Secretary each month,

13 a list of those shellfish harvesting and growing waters that

14 are classified by the State as meeting the requirements

15 of the Program.

16 SEC. 5. IMPORTED SHELLFISH SAFETY.

17 (a) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—After the

18 date of the establishment of the Program, the Secretary

19 may enter into a memorandum of understanding with any

20 foreign country which the Secretary determines has a

21 shellfish safety program that is at least equivalent to the

22 Program.

23 (b) CONTENTS.—A memorandum of understanding

24 entered into by the Secretary under this section shall—
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1 (1) provide for such verification activities by the

2 Secretary as the Secretary considers appropriate to

3 determine that the shellfish safety program of the

4 foreign country is at least equivalent to the Pro5 gram; and

6 (2) require the foreign country to—

7 (A) manage its shellfish safety program

8 under standards and procedures that are at

9 least equivalent to the Program;

10 (B) certify to the Secretary those shellfish

11 shippers located in the foreign country that

12 comply with the Program; and

13 (C) maintain and make available to the

14 Secretary a list of those shellfish harvesting and

15 growing waters of the foreign country that are

16 classified by the foreign country as meeting re17 quirements at least equivalent to the Program.

18 SEC. 6. PUBLICATION OF LISTS.

19 The Secretary shall, within 60 days after the estab20 lishment of the Program—

21 (1) establish, maintain, publish, and distribute

22 monthly a list of those shellfish shippers that are

23 certified by a State or a foreign country as meeting

24 the requirements of the Program; and
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1 (2) establish, maintain, publish, and distribute

2 monthly a list of those shellfish harvesting and

3 growing waters that are classified by States and for4 eign countries as meeting the requirements of the

5 Program.

6 SEC. 7. DELISTING OF CERTIFIED SHIPPERS.

7 After consultation with the appropriate State or for8 eign shellfish control agency and the Conference, the Sec9 retary may remove a shellfish shipper from the list under

10 section 6(1) if the Secretary determines that—

11 (1) the shipper is not in compliance with the

12 standards and procedures established under the Pro13 gram that are applicable to the shipper; and

14 (2) the State or foreign country which certified

15 that shipper under section 4(b) or 5(b)(2)(A), re16 spectively, has not taken appropriate action with re17 spect to that noncompliance.

18 SEC. 8. CERTAIN SHELLFISH DEEMED UNFIT FOR HUMAN

19 CONSUMPTION.

20 Shellfish is deemed to be adulterated for purposes of

21 the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301

22 et seq.) if—

23 (1) it is grown or harvested in a foreign country

24 that has not entered into a memorandum of under25 standing with the Secretary in accordance with sec-
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1 tion 5 within 6 months after the date of the enact2 ment of the Program;

3 (2) it is grown or harvested in a State that does

4 not have State shellfish safety program that is ap5 proved by the Secretary under section 4;

6 (3) it is harvested from waters that—

7 (A) have not been classified by a State or

8 a foreign country as meeting the requirements

9 of the Program; or

10 (B) are otherwise deemed by the Secretary

11 to be unsuitable for harvesting; or

12 (4) it is shipped by a shellfish shipper not on

13 the list published by the Secretary under section

14 6(1).

15 SEC. 9. ASSISTANCE FOR STATE SHELLFISH SAFETY PRO16 GRAMS.

17 The Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements

18 with States for developing, implementing, and maintaining

19 State shellfish safety programs in accordance with the

20 Program.

21 SEC. 10. RESTORATION OF SHELLFISH GROWING AND HAR22 VEST WATERS.

23 (a) EVALUATION.—The Secretary of Commerce shall,

24 in cooperation with the Administrator of the Environ25 mental Protection Agency and the States—
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1 (1) establish and maintain a list of those State

2 shellfish growing and harvesting areas where shell3 fish harvesting is conditional or prohibited;

4 (2) determine the causes of those conditions

5 and prohibitions; and

6 (3) evaluate the potential for removing those

7 conditions and prohibitions.

8 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary of

9 Commerce may enter into cooperative agreements with

10 States for developing and implementing restoration pro11 grams for shellfish growing and harvesting areas listed

12 under subsection (a)(1).

13 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS.

14 For the purpose of this Act, the term—

15 (1) ‘‘Conference’’ means the Interstate Shellfish

16 Sanitation Conference;

17 (2) ‘‘Program’’ means the National Shellfish

18 Safety Program established under section 3;

19 (3) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Health

20 and Human Services;

21 (4) ‘‘shellfish’’—

22 (A) means any species of molluscan bi23 valves;

24 (B) includes oysters, clams, mussels, and

25 scallops (except scallop abductor muscles); and
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1 (C) includes any such species that is

2 shucked, in the shell, fresh, frozen, canned,

3 cooked, thermally processed, or breaded;

4 (5) ‘‘State’’ means any of the several States,

5 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of

6 Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern

7 Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Vir8 gin Islands, and any other territory of possession of

9 the United States; and

10 (6) ‘‘shellfish shipper’’ means any person that

11 shucks, packs, repacks, ships, or processes (includ12 ing cooking, canning, freezing, depurating, breading,

13 thermal processing, or other handling) shellfish in

14 interstate commerce.

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