I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2068 
To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a voluntary 
program for country of origin labeling of meat, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 4, 2005 
Mr. GOODLATTE (for himself, Mr. BERRY, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. HAYES, Mr. 
SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. 
ETHERIDGE, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. ROSS, Mr. KINGSTON, 
Mr. SNYDER, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. SES-
SIONS, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. JEFFERSON, 
Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. PENCE, Mr. SHIMKUS, 
Mr. GRAVES, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. WELLER, Mr. 
MCHENRY, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Ms. FOXX, and Mr. KLINE) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to estab-
lish a voluntary program for country of origin labeling 
of meat, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Meat Promotion Act 
of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. VOLUNTARY PROGRAM FOR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN 
LABELING FOR MEAT. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Agricultural Marketing 
Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘Subtitle E—Country of Origin 
Labeling for Meat 
‘‘SEC. 291. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this subtitle: 
‘‘(1) BEEF.—The term ‘beef’ means meat pro-
duced from cattle (including veal). 
‘‘(2) COVERED
MEAT
PRODUCT.—The term 
‘covered meat product’ means ground beef, ground 
pork, ground lamb, and fresh muscle cuts of beef, 
pork, and lamb. 
‘‘(3) LAMB.—The term ‘lamb’ means meat pro-
duced from sheep. 
‘‘(4) PORK.—The term ‘pork’ means meat pro-
duced from swine. 
‘‘(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture. 
‘‘SEC. 292. VOLUNTARY PROGRAM. 
‘‘The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a vol-
untary program of country of origin labeling for covered 
meat products.
‘‘SEC. 293. LABEL. 
‘‘For purposes of the program established under sec-
tion 292, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) design a label to be used to designate the 
country of origin of covered meat products; and 
‘‘(2) require persons participating in the pro-
gram to use the label designed under paragraph (1), 
or such other label as the Secretary determines ap-
propriate, to designate the country of origin of cov-
ered meat products. 
‘‘SEC. 294. LIMITATION ON USE OF UNITED STATES AS 
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN. 
‘‘A person participating in the program established 
under section 292 may not designate a covered meat prod-
uct as having the United States as the country of origin 
unless the covered meat product is derived exclusively 
from— 
‘‘(1) an animal born, raised, and slaughtered in 
the United States; or 
‘‘(2) an animal born and raised in Alaska or 
Hawaii, transported for a period not to exceed 60 
days outside of those States, and slaughtered in the 
United States. 
‘‘SEC. 295. VERIFICATION. 
‘‘The Secretary may require participants in the pro-
gram established under section 292 to maintain a record-
keeping audit trail that will permit the Secretary to verify 
compliance with the program. 
‘‘SEC. 296. ENFORCEMENT. 
‘‘(a) CIVIL PENALTY.— 
‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary may assess 
a civil penalty against a participant in the program 
established under section 292 that purposely or 
knowingly violates the terms of the program. 
‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PENALTY.—The amount of 
the civil penalty assessed under paragraph (1) may 
not exceed $10,000 for each violation. 
‘‘(3) CONTINUING VIOLATION.—Each day dur-
ing which a violation of the program continues shall 
be considered to be a separate violation. 
‘‘(b) NOTICE AND HEARING.—The Secretary shall 
not assess a civil penalty under this section against a per-
son unless the person is given notice and opportunity for 
a hearing in accordance with section 554 of title 5, United 
States Code, with respect to the violation for which the 
person is being assessed. 
‘‘SEC. 297. REGULATIONS. 
‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of the Meat Promotion Act of 2005, the Secretary 
shall promulgate regulations to carry out the program es-
tablished under section 292.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subtitle D of the 
Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638 et 
seq.) is amended— 
(1) in the heading to read as follows: 
‘‘Subtitle D—Country of Origin La-
beling for Fish, Perishable Agri-
cultural Commodities, and Pea-
nuts’’. 
(2) in section 281— 
(A) by striking paragraphs (1), (5), and 
(7); 
(B) in paragraph (2)(A)— 
(i) by striking clauses (i) and (ii); and 
(ii) by redesignating clauses (iii), (iv), 
(v), and (vi) as clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and 
(iv), respectively; and 
(C) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), 
(4), (6), (8), and (9) as paragraphs (1), (2), 
(3), (4), (5), and (6), respectively; and 
(3) in section 282— 
(A) in subsection (a)(2)— 
(i) by striking subparagraphs (A) and 
(B); and
(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 
(C), (D), and (E) as subparagraphs (A), 
(B), and (C), respectively; and 
(B) in subsection (f)(2)— 
(i) by striking subparagraphs (A), 
(B), and (C); and 
(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 
(D) and (E) as subparagraphs (A) and 
(B). 
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