[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2169 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2169

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require that foods 
     derived from plant varieties developed by methods of genetic 
         modification be labeled to identify their derivation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 19, 1993

 Mr. Kleczka introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require that foods 
     derived from plant varieties developed by methods of genetic 
         modification be labeled to identify their derivation.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. LABELING.

    Section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 
343) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(s)(1) If it is derived from a plant variety which has been 
developed by methods of genetic modification unless it is labeled in 
accordance with regulations of the Secretary to identify the food as 
being so derived.
    ``(2) For purposes of paragraph (1)--
            ``(A) the term `variety' describes a subgroup of plants 
        (whether varieties or cultivars) within a species developed for 
        desirable traits,
            ``(B) the term `modification' means the major or minor 
        alteration in the composition of food that results from adding, 
        deleting, or changing hereditary traits, irrespective of the 
        method, and
            ``(C) the term `genetic modification' means the alteration 
        of the genotype of a plant using any technique whether new or 
        traditional.''.

SEC. 2. REGULATIONS AND EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) Regulations.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
issue proposed regulations to implement section 403(s) of the Federal 
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (as added by section 1) not later than 6 
months after the date of the enactment of this Act. Within 6 months of 
the date proposed regulations are published in the Federal Register, 
the Secretary shall issue final regulations. If the Secretary does not 
issue final regulations upon the expiration of such 12 months, the 
Congress finds that there is good cause for the proposed regulations to 
be considered final regulations without response to comment because the 
implementation of the section with respect to which such regulations 
were proposed is essential to protect the public health. Consequently 
in such event, the proposed regulations shall become the final 
regulations. There shall be promptly published in the Federal Register 
a notice of the new status of the proposed regulations. If the proposed 
regulations become final under this subparagraph, the Secretary shall 
complete the rulemaking begun with such proposed regulations.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by section 1 shall take 
effect on the date regulations under subsection (a) become final.

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