I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2439
To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to require retailers of
farm-raised fish inform consumers, at the final point of sale to con-
sumers, of the country of origin of the commodities.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 10, 2001
Mr. ROSS (for himself, Mr. BERRY, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. THOMPSON of Mis-
sissippi, Mr. SHOWS, Mr. FORD, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. CARSON of Okla-
homa, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. TURNER, and Ms. HARMAN) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri-
culture
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to require
retailers of farm-raised fish inform consumers, at the
final point of sale to consumers, of the country of origin
of the commodities.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING.
The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C.
1621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘Subtitle D—Country of Origin
Labeling
‘‘SEC. 281. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘In this subtitle:
‘‘(1) COVERED
COMMODITY.—The term ‘cov-
ered commodity’ means whole farmed-raised fish and
filets, steaks, nuggets, and any other flesh from a
farm-raised fish.
‘‘(2) FOOD
SERVICE
ESTABLISHMENT.—The
term ‘food service establishment’ means a res-
taurant, cafeteria, lunchroom, food stand, saloon,
tavern, bar, lounge, or other similar facility operated
as an enterprise engaged in the business of selling
food to the public.
‘‘(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means
the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Ag-
ricultural Marketing Service.
‘‘SEC. 282. NOTICE OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in
subsection (b), a retailer of a covered commodity
shall inform consumers, at the final point of sale of
the covered commodity to consumers, of the country
of origin of the covered commodity.
‘‘(2) UNITED STATES COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.—A
retailer of a covered commodity may designate the
covered commodity as having a United States coun-
try of origin only if the covered commodity is exclu-
sively from a farm-raised fish that is exclusively
born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States.
‘‘(b) EXEMPTION FOR FOOD SERVICE ESTABLISH-
MENTS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to a covered com-
modity if the covered commodity is—
‘‘(1) prepared or served in a food service estab-
lishment; and
‘‘(2)(A) offered for sale or sold at the food serv-
ice establishment in normal retail quantities; or
‘‘(B) served to consumers at the food service es-
tablishment.
‘‘(c) METHOD OF NOTIFICATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The information required
by subsection (a) may be provided to consumers by
means of a label, stamp, mark, placard, or other
clear and visible sign on the covered commodity or
on the package, display, holding unit, or bin con-
taining the commodity at the final point of sale to
consumers.
‘‘(2) LABELED COMMODITIES.—If the covered
commodity is already individually labeled for retail
sale regarding country of origin, the retailer shall
not be required to provide any additional informa-
tion to comply with this section.
‘‘(d) AUDIT VERIFICATION SYSTEM.—The Secretary
may require that any person that prepares, stores, han-
dles, or distributes a covered commodity for retail sale
maintain a verifiable recordkeeping audit trail that will
permit the Secretary to ensure compliance with the regula-
tions promulgated under section 274.
‘‘(e) INFORMATION.—Any person engaged in the
business of supplying a covered commodity to a retailer
shall provide information to the retailer indicating the
country of origin of the covered commodity.
‘‘SEC. 283. ENFORCEMENT.
‘‘Section 253 shall apply to a violation of this subtitle.
‘‘SEC. 284. REGULATIONS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may promulgate
such regulations as are necessary to carry out this subtitle.
‘‘(b) PARTNERSHIPS WITH STATES.—In promul-
gating the regulations, the Secretary shall, to the max-
imum extent practicable, enter into partnerships with
States with enforcement infrastructure to carry out this
subtitle.
‘‘SEC. 285. APPLICATION.
‘‘This subtitle shall apply to the retail sale of a cov-
ered commodity beginning 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this subtitle.’’.
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