IB 
Union Calendar No. 475
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 2699
[Report No. 108–770] 
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 
OCTOBER 8, 2004
Additional sponsors: Mr. SHAW, Mr. UPTON, Mr. HAYES, Mr. KLINE, Mr. 
CRAMER, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. COX, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. CAR-
SON of Oklahoma, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. BOYD, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. 
OXLEY, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. HALL, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. HERGER, 
Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. 
OSBORNE, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. PITTS, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. POMBO, Mr. 
BLUNT, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. MCCRERY, Ms. EDDIE BER-
NICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. BURNS, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. 
GREENWOOD, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. BERRY, Mr. LIN-
DER, Mr. GOODE, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. CAMP, Mr. RUSH, 
Mr. MOORE, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. 
SHIMKUS, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. WALDEN of 
Oregon, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. 
TIBERI, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE 
of Florida, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. AKIN, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. SIMPSON, 
Mr. BURGESS, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. HENSARLING, 
Mr. GRAVES, Mr. REGULA, Mr. CARTER, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mr. QUINN, 
Mr. LATHAM, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. SWEENEY, Mr. MCIN-
TYRE, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. CHOCOLA, Mr. 
LEWIS of Kentucky, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr.
BONNER, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. COBLE, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. 
VITTER, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. LATOURETTE, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. PORTER, 
Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. WICKER, Mr. ROHR-
ABACHER, Mr. WELLER, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. HOUGHTON, 
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. PORTMAN, 
Mr. EHLERS, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. WYNN, Mr. ROSS, 
Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. MATHESON, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. COL-
LINS, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. CRANE, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. WAMP, Mr. 
HILL, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, Mr. 
BUYER, Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. 
NUSSLE, Mr. JOHN, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, 
Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. BASS, Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico, Mr. LAMPSON, 
Mr. LEACH, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. GORDON, Mr. 
ISRAEL, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. 
DUNCAN, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. PENCE, Mr. DAVIS of Illi-
nois, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. CANNON, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr. MANZULLO, 
Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. 
GIBBONS, and Mr. LIPINSKI
OCTOBER 8, 2004
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 10, 2003] 
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 2004’’.
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 sec-
tion 
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 pur-
poses 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 sub-
stantially the same language as the comparable provi-
sion under this Act and that any differences in lan-
guage do not result in the imposition of materially 
different requirements. For purposes of paragraph 
(6), the term ‘any requirement for a food’ does not 
refer to provisions of this Act that relate to procedures 
for Federal action under this Act.’’.
(b) UNIFORMITY IN FOOD SAFETY WARNING NOTIFICA-
TION 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 following 
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 notification 
requirement has been prescribed under the authority 
of this Act and the State or political subdivision noti-
fication requirement is identical to the notification 
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 re-
lating 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 prohibi-
tion relating to food safety that does not involve 
a notification requirement. 
‘‘(3) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to prohibit a State from conducting 
the State’s notification, disclosure, or other dissemi-
nation of information, or to prohibit any action 
taken relating to a mandatory recall, civil adminis-
trative order, embargo, detention order, or court pro-
ceeding involving food adulteration under a State
statutory requirement identical to a food adulteration 
requirement under this Act. 
‘‘(b) REVIEW OF EXISTING STATE REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(1) EXISTING STATE REQUIREMENTS; DEFER-
RAL.—Any requirement that—
‘‘(A)(i) is a State notification requirement 
that expressly applies to a specified food or food 
component and that provides for a warning de-
scribed in subsection (a) that does not meet the 
uniformity requirement specified in subsection 
(a); or 
‘‘(ii) is a State food safety requirement de-
scribed in section 403A(6) that does not meet the 
uniformity requirement specified in that para-
graph; and 
‘‘(B) is in effect on the date of enactment of 
the National Uniformity for Food Act of 2004, 
shall remain in effect for 180 days after that date of 
enactment. 
‘‘(2) STATE PETITIONS.—With respect to a State 
notification or food safety requirement that is de-
scribed in paragraph (1), the State may petition the 
Secretary for an exemption or a national standard 
under subsection (c). If a State submits such a peti-
tion within 180 days after the date of enactment of
volved shall remain in effect during the pe-
riod beginning on the date of enactment of 
the National Uniformity for Food Act of 
2004 and ending on the applicable date 
under subclause (I) or (II), as follows: 
‘‘(I) If the petition is denied by 
the Secretary, the date of such denial. 
‘‘(II) If the petition is approved 
by the Secretary, the effective date of 
the final rule that is promulgated 
under subsection (c) to provide an ex-
emption or national standard pursu-
ant to the petition, except that there is 
no applicable ending date under this 
subparagraph for a provision of State 
law that is part of such State require-
ment in any case in which the final 
rule does not establish any condition 
regarding such provision of law. 
‘‘(ii) NONCOMPLIANCE OF SECRETARY 
REGARDING TIMEFRAMES.—
‘‘(I) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—The fail-
ure of the Secretary to comply with 
any requirement of subparagraph (A) 
or (B) shall constitute final agency ac-
tion for purposes of judicial review. If 
the court conducting the review deter-
mines that the Secretary has failed to 
comply with the requirement, the court 
shall order the Secretary to comply 
within a period determined to be ap-
propriate by the court. 
‘‘(II) STATUS OF STATE REQUIRE-
MENT.—With respect to a State that 
submits to the Secretary a petition in 
accordance with paragraph (2), if the 
Secretary fails to take final agency ac-
tion on the petition within the period 
that applies under subparagraph (B), 
the notification or food safety require-
ment involved remains in effect in ac-
cordance with clause (i). 
‘‘(c) EXEMPTIONS AND NATIONAL STANDARDS.—
‘‘(1) EXEMPTIONS.—Any State may petition the 
Secretary to provide by regulation an exemption from 
section 403A(a)(6) or subsection (a), for a require-
ment of the State or a political subdivision of the 
State. The Secretary may provide such an exemption,
under such conditions as the Secretary may impose, 
for such a requirement that—
‘‘(A) protects an important public interest 
that would otherwise be unprotected, in the ab-
sence of the exemption; 
‘‘(B) would not cause any food to be in vio-
lation of any applicable requirement or prohibi-
tion under Federal law; and 
‘‘(C) would not unduly burden interstate 
commerce, balancing the importance of the pub-
lic interest of the State or political subdivision 
against the impact on interstate commerce. 
‘‘(2) NATIONAL STANDARDS.—Any State may pe-
tition the Secretary to establish by regulation a na-
tional standard respecting any requirement under 
this Act or the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (15 
U.S.C. 1451 et seq.) relating to the regulation of a 
food. 
‘‘(3) ACTION ON PETITIONS.—
‘‘(A) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 30 
days after receipt of any petition under para-
graph (1) or (2), the Secretary shall publish such 
petition in the Federal Register for public com-
ment during a period specified by the Secretary. 
‘‘(B) TIME
PERIODS
FOR
ACTION.—Not 
later than 60 days after the end of the period for 
public comment, the Secretary shall take final
agency action on the petition or shall inform the 
petitioner, in writing, the reasons that taking the 
final agency action is not possible, the date by 
which the final agency action will be taken, and 
the final agency action that will be taken or is 
likely to be taken. In every case, the Secretary 
shall take final agency action on the petition not 
later than 120 days after the end of the period 
for public comment. 
‘‘(4) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—The failure of the Sec-
retary to comply with any requirement of this sub-
section shall constitute final agency action for pur-
poses of judicial review. If the court conducting the 
review determines that the Secretary has failed to 
comply with the requirement, the court shall order the 
Secretary to comply within a period determined to be 
appropriate by the court. 
‘‘(d) IMMINENT HAZARD AUTHORITY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may establish a re-
quirement that would otherwise violate section 
403A(a)(6) or subsection (a), if— 
‘‘(A) the requirement is needed to address 
an imminent hazard to health that is likely to 
result in serious adverse health consequences or 
death;
‘‘(B) the State has notified the Secretary 
about the matter involved and the Secretary has 
not initiated enforcement action with respect to 
the matter;
‘‘(C) a petition is submitted by the State 
under subsection (c) for an exemption or na-
tional standard relating to the requirement not 
later than 30 days after the date that the State 
establishes the requirement under this subsection; 
and 
‘‘(D) the State institutes enforcement action 
with respect to the matter in compliance with 
State law within 30 days after the date that the 
State establishes the requirement under this sub-
section. 
‘‘(2) ACTION ON PETITION.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
take final agency action on any petition sub-
mitted under paragraph (1)(C) not later than 7 
days after the petition is received, and the provi-
sions of subsection (c) shall not apply to the peti-
tion. 
‘‘(B) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—The failure of the 
Secretary to comply with the requirement de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) shall constitute
final agency action for purposes of judicial re-
view. If the court conducting the review deter-
mines that the Secretary has failed to comply 
with the requirement, the court shall order the 
Secretary to comply within a period determined 
to be appropriate by the court. 
‘‘(3) DURATION.—If a State establishes a re-
quirement in accordance with paragraph (1), the re-
quirement may remain in effect until the Secretary 
takes final agency action on a petition submitted 
under paragraph (1)(C). 
‘‘(e) NO EFFECT ON PRODUCT LIABILITY LAW.—Noth-
ing in this section shall be construed to modify or otherwise 
affect the product liability law of any State. 
‘‘(f) NO EFFECT ON IDENTICAL LAW.—Nothing in this 
section relating to a food shall be construed to prevent a 
State or political subdivision of a State from establishing, 
enforcing, or continuing in effect a requirement that is 
identical to a requirement of this Act, whether or not the 
Secretary has promulgated a regulation or issued a policy 
statement relating to the requirement. 
‘‘(g) NO EFFECT ON CERTAIN STATE LAW.—Nothing 
in this section or section 403A relating to a food shall be 
construed to prevent a State or political subdivision of a