I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 814 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Federal Meat 

Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act to improve the safety of food, meat, and poultry 

products through enhanced traceability, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2009 

Ms. DEGETTE (for herself, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. NADLER of New York, and 

Ms. DELAURO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the 

Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act to 

improve the safety of food, meat, and poultry products 

through enhanced traceability, 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 ‘‘Tracing and Recalling 

3 Agricultural Contamination Everywhere Act of 2009’’ or 

4 ‘‘TRACE Act of 2009’’. 

5 SEC. 2. TRACEABILITY OF FOOD. 

6 The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 

7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended— 

8 (1) in section 301, by inserting at the end the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(oo) The failure to comply with any requirement of 

11 section 414A (relating to the traceability of food).’’; and 

12 (2) in chapter IV, by inserting after section 414 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 414A. TRACEABILITY OF FOOD. 

15 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—Not later than 

16 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

17 Secretary shall establish a traceability system described in 

18 subsection (b) for all stages of manufacturing, processing, 

19 packaging, and distribution of food. 

20 ‘‘(b) DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM.—The traceability 

21 system required by subsection (a) shall require each article 

22 of food shipped in interstate commerce to be identified in 

23 a manner that enables the Secretary to retrieve the his24 tory, use, and location of the article through a record25 keeping and audit system or registered identification. 

26 ‘‘(c) RECORDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may require 

2 that each person, firm, and corporation required to 

3 identify an article of food pursuant to subsection (b) 

4 maintain accurate records, as prescribed by the Sec5 retary, regarding the purchase, sale, and identifica6 tion of the article. 

7 ‘‘(2) ACCESS.—Each person, firm, and corpora8 tion described in paragraph (1) shall, at all reason9 able times, on notice by a duly authorized represent10 ative of the Secretary, allow the representative to ac11 cess to each place of business of the person, firm, or 

12 corporation to examine and copy the records de13 scribed in paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(3) DURATION.—Each person, firm, and cor15 poration described in paragraph (1) shall maintain 

16 records required to be maintained under this sub17 section for such period of time as the Secretary pre18 scribes. 

19 ‘‘(d) FALSE INFORMATION.—No person, firm, or cor20 poration shall falsify or misrepresent to any other person, 

21 firm, or corporation, or to the Secretary, any information 

22 as to any location at which any article of food was held. 

23 ‘‘(e) ALTERATION OR DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS.— 

24 No person, firm, or corporation shall, without authoriza25 tion from the Secretary, alter, detach, or destroy any 


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1 records or other means of identification prescribed by the 

2 Secretary for use in determining the location at which any 

3 article of food was held.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. TRACEABILITY OF LIVESTOCK. 

5 Title I of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 

6 601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 26. TRACEABILITY OF LIVESTOCK, MEAT, AND MEAT 

9 PRODUCTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF TRACEABILITY.—In this sec11 tion, the term ‘traceability’ means the ability to retrieve 

12 the history, use, and location of an article through a rec13 ordkeeping and audit system or registered identification. 

14 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Cattle, sheep, swine, goats, 

16 and horses, mules, and other equines presented for 

17 slaughter for human food purposes, and the car18 casses or parts of carcasses and the meat and meat 

19 food products of those animals, shipped in interstate 

20 commerce shall be identified in a manner that en21 ables the Secretary to trace— 

22 ‘‘(A) each animal to any premises or other 

23 location at which the animal was held at any 

24 time before slaughter; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) each carcass or part of a carcass and 

2 meat and meat food product of such animals 

3 forward from slaughter through processing and 

4 distribution to the ultimate consumer. 

5 ‘‘(2) TRACEABILITY SYSTEM.—Not later than 1 

6 year after the date of the enactment of this section, 

7 the Secretary shall establish a traceability system for 

8 all stages of production, processing, and distribution 

9 of meat and meat food products that are produced 

10 through the slaughter of animals described in para11 graph (1). 

12 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION OR RESTRICTION ON ENTRY.— 

13 The Secretary may prohibit or restrict entry into any 

14 slaughtering establishment inspected under this Act of any 

15 cattle, sheep, swine, goats, or horses, mules, or other 

16 equines not identified as prescribed by the Secretary under 

17 subsection (b). 

18 ‘‘(d) RECORDS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may require 

20 that each person, firm, and corporation required to 

21 identify livestock pursuant to subsection (b) main22 tain accurate records, as prescribed by the Sec23 retary, regarding the purchase, sale, and identifica24 tion of the livestock. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ACCESS.—Each person, firm, and corpora2 tion described in paragraph (1) shall, at all reason3 able times, on notice by a duly authorized represent4 ative of the Secretary, allow the representative to ac5 cess to each place of business of the person, firm, or 

6 corporation to examine and copy the records de7 scribed in paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(3) DURATION.—Each person, firm, and cor9 poration described in paragraph (1) shall maintain 

10 records required to be maintained under this sub11 section for such period of time as the Secretary pre12 scribes. 

13 ‘‘(e) FALSE INFORMATION.—No person, firm, or cor14 poration shall falsify or misrepresent to any other person, 

15 firm, or corporation, or to the Secretary, any information 

16 as to any premises at which any cattle, sheep, swine, 

17 goats, horses, mules, or other equines, or carcasses there18 of, were held. 

19 ‘‘(f) ALTERATION OR DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS.— 

20 No person, firm, or corporation shall, without authoriza21 tion from the Secretary, alter, detach, or destroy any 

22 records or other means of identification prescribed by the 

23 Secretary for use in determining the premises at which 

24 were held any cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, 

25 or other equines, or the carcasses thereof. 


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1 ‘‘(g) RELATION TO COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABEL2 ING.—Nothing contained in this section prevents or inter3 feres with implementation of the country of origin labeling 

4 requirements of subtitle D of the Agricultural Marketing 

5 Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638 et seq.).’’. 

6 SEC. 4. TRACEABILITY OF POULTRY. 

7 The Poultry Products Inspection Act is amended by 

8 inserting after section 23 (21 U.S.C. 467e) the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 23A. TRACEABILITY OF POULTRY AND POULTRY 

10 PRODUCTS. 

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF TRACEABILITY.—In this sec12 tion, the term ‘traceability’ means the ability to retrieve 

13 the history, use, and location of an article through a rec14 ordkeeping and audit system or registered identification. 

15 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Poultry presented for 

17 slaughter for human food purposes and poultry 

18 products shipped in interstate commerce shall be 

19 identified in a manner that enables the Secretary to 

20 trace— 

21 ‘‘(A) each animal to any premises or other 

22 location at which the animal was held at any 

23 time before slaughter; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) each poultry product forward from 

2 slaughter through processing and distribution 

3 to the ultimate consumer. 

4 ‘‘(2) TRACEABILITY SYSTEM.—Not later than 1 

5 year after the date of the enactment of this section, 

6 the Secretary shall establish a traceability system for 

7 all stages of production, processing, and distribution 

8 of poultry and poultry food products that are pro9 duced through the slaughter of animals described in 

10 paragraph (1). 

11 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION OR RESTRICTION ON ENTRY.— 

12 The Secretary may prohibit or restrict entry into any 

13 slaughtering establishment inspected under this Act of any 

14 poultry not identified as prescribed by the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(d) RECORDS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may require 

17 that each person, firm, and corporation required to 

18 identify poultry pursuant to subsection (b) maintain 

19 accurate records, as prescribed by the Secretary, re20 garding the purchase, sale, and identification of the 

21 poultry. 

22 ‘‘(2) ACCESS.—Each person, firm, and corpora23 tion described in paragraph (1) shall, at all reason24 able times, on notice by a duly authorized represent25 ative of the Secretary, allow the representative to acVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:16 Feb 05, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H814.IH H814

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1 cess to each place of business of the person, firm, or 

2 corporation to examine and copy the records de3 scribed in paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(3) DURATION.—Each person, firm, and cor5 poration described in paragraph (1) shall maintain 

6 records required to be maintained under this sub7 section for such period of time as the Secretary pre8 scribes. 

9 ‘‘(e) FALSE INFORMATION.—No person, firm, or cor10 poration shall falsify or misrepresent to any other person, 

11 firm, or corporation, or to the Secretary, any information 

12 as to any premises at which any poultry, or carcasses 

13 thereof, were held. 

14 ‘‘(f) ALTERATION OR DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS.— 

15 No person, firm, or corporation shall, without authoriza16 tion from the Secretary, alter, detach, or destroy any 

17 records or other means of identification prescribed by the 

18 Secretary for use in determining the premises at which 

19 were held any poultry or the carcasses thereof. 

20 ‘‘(g) RELATION TO COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABEL21 ING.—Nothing contained in this section prevents or inter22 feres with implementation of the country of origin labeling 

23 requirements of subtitle D of the Agricultural Marketing 

24 Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638 et seq.).’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. TRACEABILITY OF EGG PRODUCTS. 

2 The Egg Products Inspection Act is amended by in3 serting after section 18 (21 U.S.C. 1047) the following: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 18A. TRACEABILITY OF EGGS AND EGG PRODUCTS. 

5 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—Not later than 

6 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

7 Secretary shall establish a traceability system described in 

8 subsection (b) for all stages of manufacturing, processing, 

9 packaging, and distribution of eggs and egg products. 

10 ‘‘(b) DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM.—The traceability 

11 system required by subsection (a) shall require each egg 

12 or egg product shipped in interstate commerce to be iden13 tified in a manner that enables the Secretary to retrieve 

14 the history, use, and location of the egg or egg product 

15 through a recordkeeping and audit system or registered 

16 identification. 

17 ‘‘(c) RECORDS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may require 

19 that each person, firm, and corporation required to 

20 identify eggs or egg products pursuant to subsection 

21 (b) maintain accurate records, as prescribed by the 

22 Secretary, regarding the purchase, sale, and identi23 fication of the eggs or egg products. 

24 ‘‘(2) ACCESS.—Each person, firm, and corpora25 tion described in paragraph (1) shall, at all reason26 able times, on notice by a duly authorized representVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:16 Feb 05, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H814.IH H814

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1 ative of the Secretary, allow the representative to ac2 cess to each place of business of the person, firm, or 

3 corporation to examine and copy the records de4 scribed in paragraph (1). 

5 ‘‘(3) DURATION.—Each person, firm, and cor6 poration described in paragraph (1) shall maintain 

7 records required to be maintained under this sub8 section for such period of time as the Secretary pre9 scribes. 

10 ‘‘(d) FALSE INFORMATION.—No person, firm, or cor11 poration shall falsify or misrepresent to any other person, 

12 firm, or corporation, or to the Secretary, any information 

13 as to any location at which any eggs or egg products were 

14 held. 

15 ‘‘(e) ALTERATION OR DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS.— 

16 No person, firm, or corporation shall, without authoriza17 tion from the Secretary, alter, detach, or destroy any 

18 records or other means of identification prescribed by the 

19 Secretary for use in determining the locations at which 

20 were held any eggs or egg products.’’. 

Æ 


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