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 Min-
nesota, 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 estab-
lish a voluntary program for the provision of country 
of origin information with respect to certain agricultural 
products, 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 ‘‘Food Promotion Act 
of 2004’’.
SEC. 2. REPLACEMENT OF MANDATORY COUNTRY OF ORI-
GIN LABELING WITH VOLUNTARY PROGRAM 
OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING. 
Subtitle D of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 
(7 U.S.C. 1638–1638d) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 281. VOLUNTARY PROGRAM OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN 
LABELING FOR CERTAIN MEAT PRODUCTS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘beef’ means meat produced 
from cattle (including veal). 
‘‘(2) The term ‘covered meat product’ means 
ground beef, ground pork, and ground lamb, and 
raw unprocessed muscle cuts of beef, pork and lamb. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘lamb’ means meat produced 
from sheep. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘pork’ means meat produced 
from hogs. 
‘‘(b) COUNTRY
OF ORIGIN LABELING.—The Sec-
retary of Agriculture shall establish a voluntary program 
of country of origin labeling for covered meat products. 
‘‘(c) LABEL.—In the program established under sub-
section (b), the Secretary shall—
‘‘(1) create 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 created under paragraph (1),
‘‘(3) The term ‘wild fish’ means naturally-born 
or hatchery-raised fish harvested in the wild. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘wild shellfish’ means naturally-
born or hatchery-raised shellfish harvested in the 
wild. 
‘‘(b) COUNTRY
OF ORIGIN LABELING.—The Sec-
retary of Agriculture shall establish a voluntary program 
of country of origin labeling for wild fish, wild shellfish, 
farm-raised fish, farm-raised shellfish, and products there-
of. 
‘‘(c) LABEL.—In the program established under sub-
section (b), the Secretary shall—
‘‘(1) create a label to be used to designate the 
country of origin of wild fish, wild shellfish, farm-
raised fish, farm-raised shellfish, and products there-
of; and 
‘‘(2) require persons participating in the pro-
gram to use the label created under paragraph (1), 
or such other label as the Secretary determines ap-
propriate, to designate the country of origin of wild 
fish, wild shellfish, farm-raised fish, farm-raised 
shellfish, and products thereof. 
‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON USE OF UNITED STATES COUN-
TRY OF ORIGIN LABEL.—A person participating in the 
program established under subsection (b) may not des-
ignate wild fish, wild shellfish, farm-raised fish, farm-
raised shellfish, or products thereof as having a United 
States country of origin unless—
‘‘(1) in the case of wild fish or wild shellfish (or 
a product thereof), the wild fish or wild shellfish is 
harvested in the waters of the United States or by 
a United States vessel on the high seas; or 
‘‘(2) in the case of farm-raised fish or farm-
raised shellfish (or a product thereof), the farm-
raised fish or farm-raised shellfish is raised and har-
vested in the United States. 
‘‘SEC. 283. VOLUNTARY PROGRAM OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN 
LABELING FOR PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL 
COMMODITIES. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section the term ‘perish-
able agricultural commodity’—
‘‘(1) means fresh fruits and vegetables of every 
kind and character, except frozen fruits and vegeta-
bles; and 
‘‘(2) includes cherries packed in brine as de-
fined by the Secretary in accordance with trade us-
ages. 
‘‘(b) COUNTRY
OF ORIGIN LABELING.—The Sec-
retary of Agriculture shall establish a voluntary program
of country of origin labeling for perishable agricultural 
commodities. 
‘‘(c) LABEL.—In the program established under sub-
section (b), the Secretary shall—
‘‘(1) create a label to be used to designate the 
country of origin of perishable agricultural commod-
ities; and 
‘‘(2) require persons participating in the pro-
gram to use to use the label created under para-
graph (1), or such other label as the Secretary de-
termines appropriate, to designate the country of or-
igin of perishable agricultural commodities. 
‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON USE OF UNITED STATES COUN-
TRY OF ORIGIN LABEL.—A person participating in the 
program established under subsection (b) may not des-
ignate a perishable agricultural commodity as having a 
United States country of origin unless the perishable agri-
cultural commodity is exclusively grown in the United 
States. 
‘‘(e) SURVEY OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING; 
PURPOSE.—
‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘label’ means a method to provide information to 
consumers by means of a stamp, mark, placard, or 
other clear and visible sign (including printed pack-
aging, cello wraps, twist ties, brand tags, bands, 
stickers, or other identifiers) affixed to or placed di-
rectly on a perishable agricultural commodity or on 
the display, holding unit, or bin containing the com-
modity at the final point of sale. 
‘‘(2) SURVEY REQUIRED; INTERVALS.—Subject 
to subsection (f)(2)(C), during the 12-month period 
beginning on the date of the enactment of the Food 
Promotion Act of 2004, and every two years there-
after, the Secretary shall conduct, using existing re-
sources, a national survey—
‘‘(A) to estimate the types and quantities 
of perishable agricultural commodities sold in 
the United States that are labeled with respect 
to country of origin; 
‘‘(B) to measure the extent of the vol-
untary efforts of the perishable agricultural 
commodity industry to provide country of origin 
information to consumers, including the overall 
percentage of perishable agricultural commod-
ities that bear labels with country of origin in-
formation; 
‘‘(C) to determine methods by which coun-
try of origin information is provided with re-
gard to perishable agricultural commodities sold 
in the United States; 
‘‘(D) to estimate the types of quantities of 
perishable agricultural commodities sold in the 
United States that are labeled, but for which no 
country of origin information is provided; 
‘‘(E) to estimate the types of quantities of 
perishable agricultural commodities sold in the 
United States that are not labeled; 
‘‘(F) to estimate the extent of participation 
in the voluntary program established under sub-
section (b); and 
‘‘(G) to determine whether consumers can 
reasonably ascertain the country of origin of a 
substantial majority of perishable agricultural 
commodities for sale. 
‘‘(3) LOCATION OF SURVEY.—The survey may 
be conducted at retail stores and other locations se-
lected by the Secretary. 
‘‘(4) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—For the pur-
poses of conducting the survey, the Secretary shall 
consider—
‘‘(A) bulk displays containing covered per-
ishable agricultural commodities from more 
than one country to be labeled with country of