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104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2475
To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to require that imported meat
and meat food products containing imported meat be labeled imported,
and to require that certain eating establishments serving imported meat
inform customers of that fact.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 12, 1995
Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to require that
imported meat and meat food products containing im-
ported meat be labeled imported, and to require that
certain eating establishments serving imported meat in-
form customers of that fact.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. Section 1(n) of the Federal Meat Inspec-
tion Act (21 U.S.C. 601(n)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (11) by striking out ‘‘or’’ at
the end,
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(2) in paragraph (12) by striking out the period
at the end and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; or’’, and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(13) if it is or was imported and if its labeling
fails to bear the words ‘imported’, ‘may have been
imported’, ‘this product contains imported meat’,
‘this product may contain imported meat’, ‘this con-
tainer contains imported meat’, or ‘this container
may contain imported meat’, as the case may be, or
words to indicate its country of origin.’’.
SEC. 2. (a) Whoever—
(1) owns or operates an eating establishment,
(2) sells in such eating establishment a signifi-
cant amount of meat or meat food products im-
ported into the United States, or meat food products
that, in the aggregate, contain a significant amount
of meat imported into the United States, and
(3) knowingly fails, or knowingly permits any
employee or agent to fail, to inform individuals pur-
chasing food from such eating establishment of the
fact that such meat or meat food products are sold
therein—
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(A) by displaying, in a conspicuous place
in or on such eating establishment, a sign indi-
cating such fact, or
(B) by indicating such fact on menus of-
fered, posted, or otherwise made available to
such individuals,
shall be issued a warning on the first occasion on
which it is discovered that any such failure may have
occurred and shall be fined an amount not to exceed
$500 for each day on which any such failure occurs
after receipt of such warning.
(b) For purposes of this section—
(1) the term ‘‘eating establishment’’ means any
restaurant, cafeteria, lunch counter, lunchroom, soda
fountain, food stand, saloon, tavern, bar, lounge,
vending machine, or other similar facility (including
any such facility located on the premises of any re-
tail or recreational establishment), operated as a
commercial enterprise engaged in the business of
selling food to the public,
(2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of Agriculture,
(3) the term ‘‘significant amount’’ shall have
the meaning given to it by the Secretary under sub-
section (c), and
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(4) the term ‘‘meat food product’’ shall have
the meaning given to it in section 1(j) of the Federal
Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601(j)).
(c)(1) For purposes of subsection (b)(3), the Sec-
retary shall issue a proposed rule defining the term ‘‘sig-
nificant amount’’, as used in subsection (a)(2), not later
than thirty calendar days after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
(2) The Committee on Agriculture of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri-
tion, and Forestry of the Senate may each disapprove any
proposed rule issued under paragraph (1) or (3) not later
than sixty days of continuous session of the Congress after
the date on which any such proposed rule is issued.
(3) If any proposed rule is disapproved by either com-
mittee under paragraph (2), then the Secretary shall with-
draw such proposed rule, and, taking into consideration
the objections of each committee disapproving such pro-
posed rule, shall issue another proposed rule defining the
term specified in paragraph (1), not later than thirty cal-
endar days after any such disapproval.
(4) No proposed rule issued under paragraph (1) or
paragraph (3) may take effect before the expiration of the
sixty-day period described in paragraph (2).
(5) For purposes of paragraph (2)—
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(A) continuity of session is broken only by an
adjournment of the Congress sine die, and
(B) days on which either House is not in ses-
sion because of an ajournment of more than three
days to a day certain shall be excluded in the com-
putation of the sixty-day period described in para-
graph (2).
SEC. 3. (a) This section and section 2(c) shall take
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) The amendment made by section 1 shall take ef-
fect one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Section 2 (other than subsection (c)) shall take
effect one year after the expiration of the sixty-day period
described in section 2(c)(2) during which a proposed rule
issued under paragraph (1) or (3) of section 2(c) is not
disapproved.
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