II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2838

To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990

to provide for a program to provide information to the public on the

use of biotechnology to produce food for human consumption, to support

additional research regarding the potential economic and environmental

risks and benefits of using biotechnology to produce food, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 30, 2000

Mr. HUTCHINSON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade

Act of 1990 to provide for a program to provide information to the public on the use of biotechnology to produce

food for human consumption, to support additional research regarding the potential economic and environmental risks and benefits of using biotechnology to

produce food, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Food Biotechnology

3 Information Initiative Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) biotechnology has been used for many years

7 to develop new and useful products used in a variety

8 of industries;

9 (2) biotechnology holds the potential for bene10 fits to mankind in a number of areas by allowing in11 dividual, well-characterized genes to be transferred

12 from 1 organism to another organism and thus in13 creasing the genetic diversity available to improve

14 commercial plant species;

15 (3) plant varieties created with biotechnology

16 will offer foods with better taste, more nutrition, and

17 longer shelf life;

18 (4) agricultural producers will be able to grow

19 those varieties more efficiently, leading to lower

20 costs for consumers and greater environmental pro21 tection through effective and targeted pesticide and

22 herbicide use and a reduction in soil erosion through

23 an increase in the use of no-till farming;

24 (5) on April 5, 2000, the National Research

25 Council released a report entitled ‘‘Genetically Modi-
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1 fied Pest-Protected Plants: Science and Regulation’’

2 that—

3 (A) emphasized that there is no evidence

4 that foods produced through biotechnology are

5 unsafe to eat, but that, given the current level

6 of public concern over those foods, Federal

7 agencies should conduct more research to re8 duce the concern about potential harm to

9 human health and the environment; and

10 (B) recommended that the quantity, qual11 ity, and public accessibility of information on

12 the regulation of transgenic pest-protected plant

13 products should be expanded;

14 (6) the Food and Drug Administration, the De15 partment of Agriculture, and the Environmental

16 Protection Agency are all involved in regulating the

17 use of biotechnology for producing foods;

18 (7) United States consumers are increasingly

19 concerned that food safety issues regarding the use

20 of biotechnology in foods are not being adequately

21 addressed;

22 (8) all foods, including foods that are produced

23 using biotechnology, should continue to be subject to

24 rigorous regulation by the Federal Government

25 that—
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1 (A) evaluates the safety of the products to

2 the consumer and the environment; and

3 (B) is based on scientific methods that

4 meet state-of-the-art scientific standards; and

5 (9) the sharing with consumers of scientific in6 formation produced in regulating biotechnology is

7 imperative and should be an integral part of United

8 States food and agriculture programs.

9 SEC. 3. PUBLIC INFORMATION ON USE OF BIO10 TECHNOLOGY TO PRODUCE FOOD FOR

11 HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

12 Subtitle H of title XVI of the Food, Agriculture, Con13 servation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5921 et seq.)

14 is amended by inserting after section 1668 (7 U.S.C.

15 5921) the following:

16 ‘‘SEC. 1668A. PUBLIC INFORMATION ON USE OF BIO17 TECHNOLOGY TO PRODUCE FOOD FOR

18 HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the

20 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary, in collabo21 ration with the Secretary of Health and Human Services

22 (acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs)

23 and in consultation with the Administrator of the Environ24 mental Protection Agency, shall establish a program to
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1 provide information to the public on the use of bio2 technology to produce food for human consumption.

3 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION.—The information provided

4 under the program shall include—

5 ‘‘(1) scientific information on the safety of

6 foods produced with biotechnology;

7 ‘‘(2) scientific data on the human outcomes of

8 the use of biotechnology to produce food for human

9 consumption; and

10 ‘‘(3) an analysis of the risks and benefits to the

11 environment of such use, conducted in accordance

12 with established scientific principles and using infor13 mation supplied by the Administrator of the Envi14 ronmental Protection Agency.

15 ‘‘(c) FOOD SAFETY INITIATIVE.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall be car17 ried out as a component of the Food Safety Initia18 tive of the President.

19 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—Of the amount of funds made

20 available to carry out for the Food Safety Initiative

21 for each of fiscal years 2001 and 2002, not more

22 than $10,000,000 shall be available to carry out this

23 section.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON ECONOMIC AND ENVI2 RONMENTAL RISKS AND BENEFITS OF USING

3 BIOTECHNOLOGY IN FOOD PRODUCTION.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1668 of the Food, Agri5 culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C.

6 5921) is amended by striking subsections (a) and (b) and

7 inserting the following:

8 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are—

9 ‘‘(1) to authorize and support research intended

10 to identify and analyze technological developments in

11 the area of biotechnology for the purpose of evalu12 ating the potential positive and adverse effects of the

13 developments on the United States farm economy

14 and the environment, and addressing public concerns

15 about potential adverse environmental effects, of

16 using biotechnology in food production; and

17 ‘‘(2) to authorize research to help regulatory

18 agencies develop policies, as soon as practicable, con19 cerning the introduction and use of biotechnology.

20 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Agri21 culture, acting through the Cooperative State Research,

22 Education, and Extension Service and the Agricultural

23 Research Service, shall establish a competitive grant pro24 gram to conduct research to promote the purposes de25 scribed in subsection (a).’’.
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1 (b) TYPES OF RESEARCH.—Section 1668(c) of the

2 Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990

3 (7 U.S.C. 5921(c)) is amended—

4 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para5 graph (5); and

6 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol7 lowing:

8 ‘‘(4) Research designed to evaluate—

9 ‘‘(A) the potential effect of biotechnology

10 developments on the United States farm econ11 omy;

12 ‘‘(B) the competitive status of United

13 States agricultural commodities and foods in

14 foreign markets; and

15 ‘‘(C) consumer confidence in the healthful16 ness and safety of agricultural commodities and

17 foods.’’.

18 (c) PRIORITY.—Section 1668(d)(1) of the Food, Ag19 riculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C.

20 5921(d)(1)) is amended by inserting before the semicolon

21 the following: ‘‘, but giving priority to projects designed

22 to develop improved methods for identifying potential al23 lergens in pest-protected plants, with particular emphasis

24 on the development of tests with human immune-system

25 endpoints and of more reliable animal models’’.
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1 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

2 (1) Section 1668 of the Food, Agriculture, Con3 servation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5921)

4 is amended by striking the section heading and in5 serting the following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 1668. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON ECONOMIC AND

7 ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS AND BENEFITS OF

8 USING BIOTECHNOLOGY IN FOOD PRODUC9 TION.’’.

10 (2) Section 1668(g)(2) of the Food, Agri11 culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7

12 U.S.C. 5921(g)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘for re13 search on biotechnology risk assessment’’.

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