I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2699
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide for uniform 
food safety warning notification requirements, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 10, 2003
Mr. BURR (for himself, Mr. GILLMOR, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. 
OTTER, Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire, Ms. DUNN, Mr. DEAL of 
Georgia, Mr. PETRI, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. TERRY, Mr. 
ISSA, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. 
KOLBE, and Mr. CRENSHAW) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 
provide for uniform food safety warning notification re-
quirements, 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 ‘‘National Uniformity 
for Food Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL UNIFORMITY FOR FOOD. 
(a) NATIONAL UNIFORMITY.—Section 403A(a) of the 
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343–
1(a)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period and 
inserting ‘‘, or’’; 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(6) any requirement for a food described in 
section 402(a)(1), 402(a)(2), 402(a)(6), 402(a)(7), 
402(c), 404, 406, 409, 512, or 721(a), that is not 
identical to the requirement of such section.’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘For 
purposes of paragraph (6) and section 403B, the 
term ‘identical’ means that the language under the 
laws of a State or a political subdivision of a State 
is substantially the same language as the comparable 
provision under this Act and that any differences in 
language do not result in the imposition of materi-
ally different requirements.’’.
(b) UNIFORMITY IN FOOD SAFETY WARNING NOTI-
FICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Chapter IV of such Act (21 
U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended—
(1) by redesignating sections 403B and 403C 
as sections 403C and 403D, respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after section 403A the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 403B. UNIFORMITY IN FOOD SAFETY WARNING NOTI-
FICATION REQUIREMENTS. 
‘‘(a) UNIFORMITY REQUIREMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub-
sections (c) and (d), no State or political subdivision 
of a State may, directly or indirectly, establish or 
continue in effect under any authority any notifica-
tion requirement for a food that provides for a warn-
ing concerning the safety of the food, or any compo-
nent or package of the food, unless such a notifica-
tion requirement has been prescribed under the au-
thority of this Act and the State or political subdivi-
sion notification requirement is identical to the noti-
fication requirement prescribed under the authority 
of this Act. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of paragraph 
(1)—
‘‘(A) the term ‘notification requirement’ in-
cludes any mandatory disclosure requirement 
relating to the dissemination of information 
about a food by a manufacturer or distributor 
of a food in any manner, such as through a 
label, labeling, poster, public notice, advertising, 
or any other means of communication, except 
as provided in paragraph (3); 
‘‘(B) the term ‘warning’, used with respect 
to a food, means any statement, vignette, or 
other representation that indicates, directly or 
by implication, that the food presents or may 
present a hazard to health or safety; and 
‘‘(C) a reference to a notification require-
ment that provides for a warning shall not be 
construed to refer to any requirement or prohi-
bition relating to food safety that does not in-
volve a notification requirement. 
‘‘(3) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to prohibit a State from con-
ducting the State’s notification, disclosure, or other 
dissemination of information, or to prohibit any ac-
tion taken relating to a mandatory recall or court in-
junction involving food adulteration under a State