I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2893
To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to require nutritional claims
in food advertising to meet the requirements applicable to nutritional
claims for food, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 5, 1993
Mr. MOAKLEY (for himself, Mr. WAXMAN, and Mr. STUDDS) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to require
nutritional claims in food advertising to meet the require-
ments applicable to nutritional claims for food, 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 ‘‘Nutritional Advertising
Coordination Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION RULES REGARDING
UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRAC-
TICES IN CONNECTION WITH FOOD ADVER-
TISING.
(a) REGULATIONS.—Section 5 of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘(n) The Commission shall prescribe rules to prohibit
unfair and deceptive acts and practices in food advertising.
Such rules shall require that claims in advertising for
food—
‘‘(1) characterizing the level of any nutrient in
the food of the type required by section 403(q)(1) or
403(q)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act to be in the labeling of the food, or
‘‘(2) characterizing the relationship of any such
nutrient to a disease or health related condition,
shall be consistent, to the fullest extent feasible, with sec-
tion 403(r) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
and with the regulations of the Secretary of Health and
Human Services implementing such section and the cor-
responding regulations issued by the Secretary of Agri-
culture.’’.
(b) RULEMAKING.—
(1) SECTION 18 RULE.—A rule issued under
section 5(n) of the Federal Trade Commission Act
(added by subsection (a)) shall be treated as a rule
issued under section 18(a)(1)(B) of such Act (15
U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)).
(2) TIME AND PROCEDURE.—
(A) TIME
PERIOD.—The Federal Trade
Commission shall issue proposed rules under
section 5(n) of the Federal Trade Commission
Act (as added by subsection (a)) within 180
days of the date of the enactment of this Act
and shall issue final rules under such section
within 360 days of such enactment.
(B) PROCEDURE.—The Federal Trade
Commission shall issue rules under section 5(n)
of the Federal Trade Commission Act (as added
by subsection (a)) in accordance with section
553 of title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 3. ACTIONS BY STATES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever an attorney general of
any State has reason to believe that the interests of the
residents of that State have been or are being threatened
or adversely affected because any person has engaged or
is engaging in a pattern or practice which violates any rule
of the Federal Trade Commission under section 5(n) of
the Federal Trade Commission Act, the State may bring
a civil action on behalf of its residents in an appropriate
district court of the United States to enjoin such pattern
or practice, to enforce compliance with such rule of the
Commission, to obtain damages on behalf of their resi-
dents, or to obtain such further and other relief as the
court may deem appropriate.
(b) NOTICE.—A State shall serve prior written notice
of any civil action under subsection (a) upon the Federal
Trade Commission and provide the Commission with a
copy of its complaint, except that if it is not feasible for
the State to provide such prior notice, the State shall serve
such notice immediately upon instituting such action.
Upon receiving a notice respecting a civil action, the Com-
mission shall have the right (1) to intervene in such action,
(2) upon so intervening, to be heard on all matters arising
therein, and (3) to file petitions for appeal.
(c) VENUE.—Any civil action brought under sub-
section (a) in a district court of the United States may
be brought in the district where the defendant transacts
business or where the violation occurred.
(d) INVESTIGATORY
POWERS.—For purposes of
bringing any civil action under subsection (a), nothing in
this section shall prevent the attorney general from exer-
cising the powers conferred on the attorney general by the
laws of such State to conduct investigations, including ad-
ministering oaths or affirmations, compeling the attend-
ance of witnesses, or the production of documentary and
other evidence.
(e) LIMITATION.—Whenever the Federal Trade Com-
mission has instituted a civil action for violation of any
rule under section 5(n) of the Federal Trade Commission
Act, no State may, during the pendency of such action
instituted by the Commission, subsequently institute a
civil action against any defendant named in the Commis-
sion’s complaint for violation of any such rule as alleged
in the Commission’s complaint.
(f) ACTIONS BY OTHER STATE OR LOCAL OFFI-
CIALS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing contained in this
section shall prohibit an official authorized by a
State or locality from proceeding in a court of a
State or locality on the basis of an alleged violation
of any general civil or criminal statute of such State
or locality.
(2) OTHER OFFICIALS.—In addition to actions
brought by an attorney general of a State under
subsection (a), such an action may be brought by
other officials authorized by a State or locality to
bring actions in such State for protection of consum-
ers and who are designated by the Commission to
bring an action under subsection (a) against persons
that the Commission has determined have or are en-
gaged in a pattern or practice which violates a rule
of the Commission under section 2(a).
(h) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
(1) The term ‘‘attorney general’’ means the
chief legal officer of a State.
(2) The term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and any terri-
tory or possession of the United States.
(3) The term ‘‘locality’’ means any political
subdivision of a State as defined in paragraph (2).
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