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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1669

To require country of origin labeling of peanuts and peanut products and

to establish penalties for violations of the labeling requirements.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 30, 1999

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

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To require country of origin labeling of peanuts and peanut

products and to establish penalties for violations of the

labeling requirements.

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 ‘‘Peanut Labeling Act

5 of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. INDICATION OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN OF PEANUTS

7 AND PEANUT PRODUCTS.

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

9 (1) PEANUT PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘peanut

10 product’’ means any product more than 3 percent of
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1 the retail value of which is derived from peanuts

2 contained in the product.

3 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

4 the Secretary of Agriculture.

5 (b) NOTICE OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN REQUIRED.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a

7 retailer of peanuts or peanut products produced in,

8 or imported into, the United States (including any

9 peanut product that contains peanuts that are not

10 produced in the United States) shall inform con11 sumers, at the final point of sale to consumers, of

12 the country of origin of the peanuts or peanut prod13 ucts.

14 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the ap15 plication of paragraph (1) to a retailer of peanuts or

16 peanut products if the retailer demonstrates to the

17 Secretary it is impracticable for the retailer to deter18 mine the country of origin of the peanuts or peanut

19 products.

20 (c) METHOD OF NOTIFICATION.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The information required by

22 subsection (b) may be provided to consumers by

23 means of a label, stamp, mark, placard, or other

24 clear and visible sign on the peanuts or peanut prod25 ucts or on the package, display, holding unit, or bin
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1 containing the peanuts or peanut products at the

2 final point of sale to consumers.

3 (2) EXISTING LABELING.—If the peanuts or

4 peanut products are already labeled regarding coun5 try of origin by the packer, importer, or another per6 son, the retailer shall not be required to provide any

7 additional information in order to comply with this

8 section.

9 (d) VIOLATIONS.—If a retailer fails to indicate the

10 country of origin of peanuts or peanut products as re11 quired by subsection (b), the Secretary may impose a civil

12 penalty on the retailer in an amount not to exceed—

13 (1) $1,000 for the first day on which the viola14 tion occurs; and

15 (2) $250 for each day on which the violation

16 continues.

17 (e) DEPOSIT OF FUNDS.—Amounts collected under

18 subsection (d) shall be deposited in the Treasury of the

19 United States as miscellaneous receipts.

20 (f) APPLICATION.—This section shall apply with re21 spect to peanuts and peanut products produced in, or im22 ported into, the United States after the date that is 180

23 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

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