I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4576

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a voluntary 

program for the provision of country of origin information with respect 

to certain agricultural products, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 15, 2004

Mr. GOODLATTE (for himself, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. 

BONILLA, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mr. 

HAYES, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. FARR, Mr. CHOCOLA, Mr. 

BERRY, and Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA ́) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a voluntary program for the provision of country 

of origin information with respect to certain agricultural 

products, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Food Promotion Act 

5 of 2004’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. REPLACEMENT OF MANDATORY COUNTRY OF ORI2 GIN LABELING WITH VOLUNTARY PROGRAM 

3 OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING. 

4 Subtitle D of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 

5 (7 U.S.C. 1638–1638d) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 281. VOLUNTARY PROGRAM OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN 

7 LABELING FOR CERTAIN MEAT PRODUCTS. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘beef’ means meat produced 

10 from cattle (including veal). 

11 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered meat product’ means 

12 ground beef, ground pork, and ground lamb, and 

13 raw unprocessed muscle cuts of beef, pork and lamb. 

14 ‘‘(3) The term ‘lamb’ means meat produced 

15 from sheep. 

16 ‘‘(4) The term ‘pork’ means meat produced 

17 from hogs. 

18 ‘‘(b) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING.—The Sec19 retary of Agriculture shall establish a voluntary program 

20 of country of origin labeling for covered meat products. 

21 ‘‘(c) LABEL.—In the program established under sub22 section (b), the Secretary shall—

23 ‘‘(1) create a label to be used to designate the 

24 country of origin of covered meat products; and 

25 ‘‘(2) require persons participating in the pro26 gram to use the label created under paragraph (1), 
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1 or such other label as the Secretary determines ap2 propriate, to designate the country of origin of cov3 ered meat products. 

4 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON USE OF UNITED STATES COUN5 TRY OF ORIGIN LABEL.—A person participating in the 

6 program established under subsection (b) may not des7 ignate a covered meat product as having a United States 

8 country of origin unless the covered meat product is de9 rived exclusively from—

10 ‘‘(1) an animal born, raised, and slaughtered in 

11 the United States; or 

12 ‘‘(2) an animal born and raised in Alaska or 

13 Hawaii, transported for a period not to exceed 60 

14 days outside of those States, and slaughtered in the 

15 United States. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 282. VOLUNTARY PROGRAM OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN 

17 LABELING FOR FISH PRODUCTS. 

18 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) The term ‘farm-raised fish’ means all fish 

20 that are not wild fish. The term includes net-pen, 

21 aquacultural, and other farm-raised fish. 

22 ‘‘(2) The term ‘farm-raised shellfish’ means all 

23 shellfish that are not wild shellfish. The term in24 cludes net-pen, aquacultural, and other farm-raised 

25 fish. 
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1 ‘‘(3) The term ‘wild fish’ means naturally-born 

2 or hatchery-raised fish harvested in the wild. 

3 ‘‘(4) The term ‘wild shellfish’ means naturally4 born or hatchery-raised shellfish harvested in the 

5 wild. 

6 ‘‘(b) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING.—The Sec7 retary of Agriculture shall establish a voluntary program 

8 of country of origin labeling for wild fish, wild shellfish, 

9 farm-raised fish, farm-raised shellfish, and products there10 of. 

11 ‘‘(c) LABEL.—In the program established under sub12 section (b), the Secretary shall—

13 ‘‘(1) create a label to be used to designate the 

14 country of origin of wild fish, wild shellfish, farm15 raised fish, farm-raised shellfish, and products there16 of; and 

17 ‘‘(2) require persons participating in the pro18 gram to use the label created under paragraph (1), 

19 or such other label as the Secretary determines ap20 propriate, to designate the country of origin of wild 

21 fish, wild shellfish, farm-raised fish, farm-raised 

22 shellfish, and products thereof. 

23 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON USE OF UNITED STATES COUN24 TRY OF ORIGIN LABEL.—A person participating in the 

25 program established under subsection (b) may not des-
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1 ignate wild fish, wild shellfish, farm-raised fish, farm2 raised shellfish, or products thereof as having a United 

3 States country of origin unless—

4 ‘‘(1) in the case of wild fish or wild shellfish (or 

5 a product thereof), the wild fish or wild shellfish is 

6 harvested in the waters of the United States or by 

7 a United States vessel on the high seas; or 

8 ‘‘(2) in the case of farm-raised fish or farm9 raised shellfish (or a product thereof), the farm10 raised fish or farm-raised shellfish is raised and har11 vested in the United States. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 283. VOLUNTARY PROGRAM OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN 

13 LABELING FOR PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL 

14 COMMODITIES. 

15 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section the term ‘perish16 able agricultural commodity’—

17 ‘‘(1) means fresh fruits and vegetables of every 

18 kind and character, except frozen fruits and vegeta19 bles; and 

20 ‘‘(2) includes cherries packed in brine as de21 fined by the Secretary in accordance with trade us22 ages. 

23 ‘‘(b) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING.—The Sec24 retary of Agriculture shall establish a voluntary program 
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1 of country of origin labeling for perishable agricultural 

2 commodities. 

3 ‘‘(c) LABEL.—In the program established under sub4 section (b), the Secretary shall—

5 ‘‘(1) create a label to be used to designate the 

6 country of origin of perishable agricultural commod7 ities; and 

8 ‘‘(2) require persons participating in the pro9 gram to use to use the label created under para10 graph (1), or such other label as the Secretary de11 termines appropriate, to designate the country of or12 igin of perishable agricultural commodities. 

13 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON USE OF UNITED STATES COUN14 TRY OF ORIGIN LABEL.—A person participating in the 

15 program established under subsection (b) may not des16 ignate a perishable agricultural commodity as having a 

17 United States country of origin unless the perishable agri18 cultural commodity is exclusively grown in the United 

19 States. 

20 ‘‘(e) SURVEY OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING; 

21 PURPOSE.—

22 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

23 ‘label’ means a method to provide information to 

24 consumers by means of a stamp, mark, placard, or 

25 other clear and visible sign (including printed pack-
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1 aging, cello wraps, twist ties, brand tags, bands, 

2 stickers, or other identifiers) affixed to or placed di3 rectly on a perishable agricultural commodity or on 

4 the display, holding unit, or bin containing the com5 modity at the final point of sale. 

6 ‘‘(2) SURVEY REQUIRED; INTERVALS.—Subject 

7 to subsection (f)(2)(C), during the 12-month period 

8 beginning on the date of the enactment of the Food 

9 Promotion Act of 2004, and every two years there10 after, the Secretary shall conduct, using existing re11 sources, a national survey—

12 ‘‘(A) to estimate the types and quantities 

13 of perishable agricultural commodities sold in 

14 the United States that are labeled with respect 

15 to country of origin; 

16 ‘‘(B) to measure the extent of the vol17 untary efforts of the perishable agricultural 

18 commodity industry to provide country of origin 

19 information to consumers, including the overall 

20 percentage of perishable agricultural commod21 ities that bear labels with country of origin in22 formation; 

23 ‘‘(C) to determine methods by which coun24 try of origin information is provided with re-
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1 gard to perishable agricultural commodities sold 

2 in the United States; 

3 ‘‘(D) to estimate the types of quantities of 

4 perishable agricultural commodities sold in the 

5 United States that are labeled, but for which no 

6 country of origin information is provided; 

7 ‘‘(E) to estimate the types of quantities of 

8 perishable agricultural commodities sold in the 

9 United States that are not labeled; 

10 ‘‘(F) to estimate the extent of participation 

11 in the voluntary program established under sub12 section (b); and 

13 ‘‘(G) to determine whether consumers can 

14 reasonably ascertain the country of origin of a 

15 substantial majority of perishable agricultural 

16 commodities for sale. 

17 ‘‘(3) LOCATION OF SURVEY.—The survey may 

18 be conducted at retail stores and other locations se19 lected by the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—For the pur21 poses of conducting the survey, the Secretary shall 

22 consider—

23 ‘‘(A) bulk displays containing covered per24 ishable agricultural commodities from more 

25 than one country to be labeled with country of 
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1 origin information if a majority of the perish2 able agricultural commodities therein bear 

3 country of origin labels; and 

4 ‘‘(B) label information regarding a State, 

5 region, or locality of the United States as infor6 mation sufficient to identify the United States 

7 as the country of origin. 

8 ‘‘(f) USE AND AVAILABILITY OF SURVEY RE9 SULTS.—

10 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

11 shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the 

12 House of Representatives and the Committee on Ag13 riculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a 

14 report containing the results of each survey con15 ducted under subsection (e). 

16 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT SURVEYS.—

17 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION OF CONSUMER

18 AWARENESS.—In other than the first survey 

19 conducted under subsection (e), if the Secretary 

20 makes a determination that consumers cannot 

21 reasonably ascertain the country of origin of a 

22 substantial majority of perishable agricultural 

23 commodities, the Secretary shall include in the 

24 report submitted under paragraph (1) with re25 spect to that survey—
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1 ‘‘(i) specific action steps that would 

2 provide the perishable agricultural com3 modity distribution chain with incentives to 

4 increase country of origin labeling levels; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(ii) proposed guidelines that would 

7 increase the use of country of origin identi8 fication labels. 

9 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO ASCERTAIN

10 COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.—If the Secretary makes 

11 the determination that consumers cannot rea12 sonably ascertain the country of origin of a sub13 stantial majority of perishable agricultural com14 modities in two consecutive surveys conducted 

15 under subsection (e), the Secretary shall include 

16 in the report submitted under paragraph (1) 

17 with respect to the second of the two surveys 

18 such recommendations as the Secretary deter19 mines appropriate regarding ways to increase 

20 labeling to achieve that goal. 

21 ‘‘(C) EFFECT OF ABILITY TO ASCERTAIN

22 COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.—If the Secretary makes 

23 the determination that consumers can reason24 ably ascertain the country of origin of a sub25 stantial majority of perishable agricultural com-
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1 modities in two consecutive surveys conducted 

2 under subsection (e), the Secretary shall no 

3 longer be required to conduct surveys under 

4 such subsection. 

5 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary 

6 shall make the results of each survey conducted 

7 under subsection (e) available to the perishable agri8 cultural commodity industry and the public. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 284. VERIFICATION. 

10 ‘‘The Secretary of Agriculture may require partici11 pants in a program of country of origin labeling under 

12 section 281, 282, or 283 to maintain a verifiable record13 keeping audit trail that will permit the Secretary to verify 

14 compliance with the program. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 285. ENFORCEMENT. 

16 ‘‘(a) CIVIL PENALTY.—

17 ‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary of Agri18 culture may assess a civil penalty against a partici19 pant in a program of country of origin labeling 

20 under section 281, 282, or 283 that purposely or 

21 knowingly violates the terms of the program. 

22 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PENALTY.—The amount of 

23 the civil penalty assessed under paragraph (1) may 

24 not exceed $10,000 for each violation. 
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1 ‘‘(3) CONTINUING VIOLATION.—Each day dur2 ing which a violation continues shall be considered to 

3 be a separate violation. 

4 ‘‘(b) NOTICE AND HEARING.—The Secretary may not 

5 assess a penalty under subsection (a) against a person un6 less the person is given notice and an opportunity for a 

7 hearing in accordance with section 554 of title 5, United 

8 States Code, with respect to the violation.’’.

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