[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2893 Introduced in House (IH)]

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 requirements applicable to nutritional 
                claims for food, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 PRACTICES IN CONNECTION WITH FOOD ADVERTISING.

    (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 section 
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 corresponding regulations issued by the Secretary 
of Agriculture.''.
    (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 
residents, 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 Commission 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 subsection (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 exercising the powers conferred on the attorney 
general by the laws of such State to conduct investigations, including 
administering oaths or affirmations, compeling the attendance of 
witnesses, or the production of documentary and other evidence.
    (e) Limitation.--Whenever the Federal Trade Commission 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 Commission's complaint 
for violation of any such rule as alleged in the Commission's 
complaint.
    (f) Actions by Other State or Local Officials.--
            (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 
        consumers and who are designated by the Commission to bring an 
        action under subsection (a) against persons that the Commission 
        has determined have or are engaged 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 territory 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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