II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1597

To establish food safety research, education, and extension as priorities of

the Department of Agriculture, to require the use of a designated team

within the Department of Agriculture to enable the Department and

other Federal agencies to rapidly respond to food safety emergencies,

and to improve food safety through the development and commercialization of food safety technology.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 3, 1998

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

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To establish food safety research, education, and extension

as priorities of the Department of Agriculture, to require

the use of a designated team within the Department

of Agriculture to enable the Department and other Federal agencies to rapidly respond to food safety emergencies, and to improve food safety through the development and commercialization of food safety technology.

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Safe Food Action Plan Act’’.

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

5 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Food safety research, education, and extension priority.

Sec. 4. Food Safety Rapid Response Team.

Sec. 5. Emphasis on food safety research in Fund for Rural America.

Sec. 6. National Food Safety Research, Education, and Extension Program.

Sec. 7. Development and commercialization of food safety technology.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) while the American food supply is among

9 the safest in the world, every year millions of Ameri10 cans are stricken by illness caused by food they con11 sume; and

12 (2) an effective food safety strategy must be de13 veloped that encompasses research, educational, and

14 response efforts along the entire farm-to-table spec15 trum and considers research efforts on emerging

16 food-borne illness and related issues at the Depart17 ment of Agriculture and other Federal agencies.

18 SEC. 3. FOOD SAFETY RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND EXTEN19 SION PRIORITY.

20 (a) FOOD SAFETY PRIORITY.—The Secretary of Ag21 riculture shall establish the identification and resolution

22 of food safety issues as a priority for the research, edu-
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1 cation, and extension activities of the Department of Agri2 culture.

3 (b) MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND INTEGRATED AP4 PROACH.—To the maximum extent practicable, the Sec5 retary of Agriculture shall conduct food safety research,

6 education, and extension activities on a multidisciplinary

7 and integrated basis.

8 (c) CONSUMER EDUCATION.—The Secretary of Agri9 culture is encouraged to use the authority under section

10 3(g) of the Act of May 8, 1914 (commonly known as the

11 Smith-Lever Act) (38 Stat. 373, chapter 79; 7 U.S.C.

12 343(g)), to enter into cooperative agreements to carry out

13 food safety consumer education programs.

14 (d) INPUT.—In carrying out this section, the Sec15 retary of Agriculture shall encourage communication

16 among Federal agencies, educational institutions, and the

17 private sector.

18 SEC. 4. FOOD SAFETY RAPID RESPONSE TEAM.

19 (a) DESIGNATION AND COMPOSITION.—

20 (1) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary of Agri21 culture shall designate a Food Safety Rapid Re22 sponse Team within the Department of Agriculture,

23 to enable the Department to rapidly respond to food

24 safety emergencies.
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1 (2) COMPOSITION.—The Secretary shall select

2 the members of the Food Safety Rapid Response

3 Team from personnel of the Department with rel4 evant subject matter expertise.

5 (3) COORDINATING OFFICER.—The Food Safety

6 Rapid Response Team shall be under the direction

7 of a coordinating officer who is appointed by the

8 Secretary and reports directly to the Secretary.

9 (b) DUTIES.—The Food Safety Rapid Response

10 Team shall review and evaluate the response of the De11 partment of Agriculture to outbreaks of food-borne illness

12 and make recommendations to the Secretary of Agri13 culture regarding—

14 (1) the more effective involvement of other Fed15 eral agencies, State and local agencies, land-grant

16 colleges and universities, and other research institu17 tions in the response to a food safety emergency;

18 (2) the rapid dissemination of accurate infor19 mation to the public regarding a food safety emer20 gency; and

21 (3) other improvements to the Federal system

22 for response to food safety emergencies.

23 (c) FOOD SAFETY ACTION PLAN.—
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1 (1) PREPARATION.—The Food Safety Rapid

2 Response Team shall develop a food safety action

3 plan, which shall—

4 (A) delineate, within the Department of

5 Agriculture, the responsibility and mission of

6 each office and agency of the Department dur7 ing a food safety emergency; and

8 (B) facilitate the cooperation of the De9 partment and the coordination of the Depart10 ment response with other Federal agencies,

11 States, local governments, colleges and univer12 sities, industry, and public interest groups.

13 (2) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 1 year after

14 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of

15 Agriculture shall submit the food safety action plan

16 required by this section to Congress.

17 (d) EXECUTIVE BRANCH COOPERATION AND CO18 ORDINATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture is encouraged

19 to enter into memoranda of understanding, with the heads

20 of other Federal agencies that conduct similar programs

21 or activities regarding food safety, for the purpose of en22 suring consistent, accurate, and coordinated dissemination

23 throughout the executive branch of information and serv24 ices in the event of a food safety emergency.
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1 SEC. 5. EMPHASIS ON FOOD SAFETY RESEARCH IN FUND

2 FOR RURAL AMERICA.

3 Section 793(c)(2)(A) of the Federal Agriculture Im4 provement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C.

5 2204f(c)(2)(A)) is amended—

6 (1) in clause (vii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and in7 serting a semicolon;

8 (2) in clause (viii), by striking the period and

9 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

10 (3) by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(ix) increase food safety from farm

12 to table.’’.

13 SEC. 6. NATIONAL FOOD SAFETY RESEARCH, EDUCATION,

14 AND EXTENSION PROGRAM.

15 (a) DEFINITION OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL

16 SCIENCES.—Section 1404(8)(B) of the National Agricul17 tural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of

18 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103(8)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘,

19 including food safety’’ after ‘‘agricultural products’’.

20 (b) FOOD SAFETY PROGRAM.—The National Agricul21 tural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of

22 1977 is amended by inserting after section 1425 (7 U.S.C.

23 3175) the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1426. NATIONAL FOOD SAFETY RESEARCH, EDU2 CATION, AND EXTENSION PROGRAM.

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish the

4 National Food Safety Research, Education, and Extension

5 Program to reduce the incidence of food-borne illness to

6 the maximum extent practicable through research, edu7 cation, and extension activities.

8 ‘‘(b) ELEMENTS OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall

9 use the National Food Safety Research, Education, and

10 Extension Program—

11 ‘‘(1) to conduct and coordinate research con12 cerning food-borne threats to human health and re13 search concerning mechanisms to identify, reduce,

14 eliminate, and prevent food-borne threats from en15 tering into, and existing in, the food supply, includ16 ing research to develop rapid, cost effective tests—

17 ‘‘(A) for the presence of food pathogens

18 (such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli

19 O157:H7, Cryptosporidium, Hepatitis A and

20 Norwalk viruses, Pfiesteria piscicida and other

21 marine toxins, Cyclospora, and Toxoplasma);

22 ‘‘(B) to enhance understanding of how the

23 pathogens become resistant to preservation

24 technologies; and

25 ‘‘(C) to develop technologies for prevention

26 and control of the pathogens;
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1 ‘‘(2) to enhance surveillance by providing data

2 to anticipate and prevent future outbreaks of food3 borne illness by focusing on production, processing,

4 handling, transportation, and storage practices,

5 proper use of veterinary drugs and feed, and man6 agement of animal wastes;

7 ‘‘(3) to fill current knowledge gaps in food safe8 ty issues, including through development of better

9 data and modeling techniques to improve risk as10 sessments;

11 ‘‘(4) to identify ways to improve the dissemina12 tion of information regarding food safety strategies

13 to all participants in the farm-to-table spectrum, in14 cluding agricultural producers, processors, transport15 ers, handlers, and consumers, so as to reduce the in16 cidence of food-borne illness;

17 ‘‘(5) to coordinate the activities of the Federal

18 Government and land-grant colleges and universities

19 regarding research on food safety issues and the dis20 semination of the results of the research; and

21 ‘‘(6) to cooperate with State governments and

22 the private sector to improve and enhance the safety

23 of food.

24 ‘‘(c) CONTRACT, GRANTS, AND COOPERATIVE

25 AGREEMENTS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With funds available to

2 carry out this section, the Secretary may enter into

3 contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements with in4 dividuals and organizations in accordance with sec5 tion 1472.

6 ‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—Grants made under

7 this subsection shall be made on a competitive basis.

8 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATION.—

9 ‘‘(1) COSTS.—The Secretary may retain for ad10 ministration up to 4 percent of amounts appro11 priated for the National Food Safety Research, Edu12 cation, and Extension Program authorized by this

13 section, notwithstanding the availability of any ap14 propriation for administrative expenses of the Na15 tional Food Safety Research, Education, and Exten16 sion Program.

17 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pro18 mulgate regulations necessary for the administration

19 of this section.

20 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION WITH NATIONAL ACADEMY

21 OF SCIENCES.—The Secretary may use funds made

22 available under this section to consult with the Na23 tional Academy of Sciences regarding the adminis24 tration of the National Food Safety Research, Edu25 cation, and Extension Program without regard to
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1 the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee

2 Act (5 U.S.C. App.) and title XVIII of the Food and

3 Agriculture Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2281 et seq.).’’.

4 SEC. 7. DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF

5 FOOD SAFETY TECHNOLOGY.

6 (a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS FOR FOOD SAFETY

7 TECHNOLOGY.—Notwithstanding chapter 63 of title 31,

8 United States Code, the Secretary of Agriculture may

9 enter into cooperative agreements with a person or entity

10 otherwise eligible to enter into such an agreement under

11 section 1472 of the National Agricultural Research, Ex12 tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3318)

13 under which the facilities and technical expertise of the

14 Agricultural Research Service may be made available to

15 the person or entity for the purpose of developing and

16 commercializing new technologies and products for food

17 safety to the point of practical application.

18 (b) SALE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND PROD19 UCTS.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall authorize the

20 partners in a cooperative agreement under this section to

21 sell new technologies and products for food safety pro22 duced under the agreement for the purpose of determining

23 the market potential for the new technologies or products.

24 (c) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—To carry out this section,

25 the Secretary of Agriculture may use funds made available
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1 to carry out this section and funds otherwise available for

2 the cooperative agreements that may be entered into

3 under section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology In4 novation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a).

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