I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1605
To require that perishable agricultural commodities be labeled or marked
as to their country of origin and to establish penalties for violations
of such labeling requirements.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 26, 2001
Mrs. BONO (for herself an Mr. CONDIT) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To require that perishable agricultural commodities be
labeled or marked as to their country of origin and
to establish penalties for violations of such labeling re-
quirements.
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 ‘‘Produce Consumers’
Right-to-Know Act’’.
SEC. 2. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING OF PERISHABLE
AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
LABELING
REQUIRE-
MENT.—The Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act,
1930, is amended by inserting after section 17 (7 U.S.C.
499q) the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 18. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING OF PERISHABLE
AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.
‘‘(a) NOTICE OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN REQUIRED.—
Except as provided in subsection (b), a retailer of a perish-
able agricultural commodity shall inform consumers, at
the final point of sale of the perishable agricultural com-
modity to consumers, of the country of origin of the per-
ishable agricultural commodity. This requirement shall
apply to imported and domestically produced perishable
agricultural commodities.
‘‘(b) EXEMPTION FOR FOOD SERVICE ESTABLISH-
MENTS.—
‘‘(1) EXEMPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not
apply to a perishable agricultural commodity to the
extent that the perishable agricultural commodity
is—
‘‘(A) prepared or served in a food service
establishment; and
‘‘(B) offered for sale or sold at the food
service establishment in normal retail quantities
or served to consumers at the food service es-
tablishment.
‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term
‘food service establishment’ means a restaurant, caf-
eteria, lunch room, food stand, saloon, tavern, bar,
lounge, or other similar facility, which is operated as
an enterprise engaged in the business of selling
foods to the public.
‘‘(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 perishable agricultural
commodity or on the package, display, holding unit,
or bin containing the commodity at the final point
of sale to consumers.
‘‘(2) LABELED COMMODITIES.—If a perishable
agricultural commodity is already individually la-
beled regarding country of origin by a packer, im-
porter, or another person, the retailer shall not be
required to provide any additional information to
comply with this section.
‘‘(d) VIOLATIONS.—If a retailer fails to indicate the
country of origin of a perishable agricultural commodity
as required by subsection (a), the Secretary of Agriculture
may assess a civil penalty on the retailer in an amount
not to exceed—
‘‘(1) $1,000 for the first day on which the viola-
tion occurs; and
‘‘(2) $250 for each day on which the same vio-
lation continues.
‘‘(e) DEPOSIT OF FUNDS.—Amounts collected under
subsection (d) shall be deposited in the Treasury of the
United States as miscellaneous receipts.’’.
(b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT.—Section 18 of
the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, as
added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to a per-
ishable agricultural commodity offered for retail sale after
the end of the six-month period beginning on the date of
the enactment of this Act.
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