[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 617 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 617

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to require that imported meat, 
     and meat food products containing imported meat, bear a label 
                   identifying the country of origin.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 17, 1997

 Mr. Johnson (for himself, Mr. Craig, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Burns, and Mr. 
    Baucus) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to require that imported meat, 
     and meat food products containing imported meat, bear a label 
                   identifying the country of origin.

    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 ``Imported Meat Labeling Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING OF IMPORTED MEAT AND MEAT FOOD 
              PRODUCTS.

    (a) Labeling Required.--Section 1(n) of the Federal Meat Inspection 
Act (21 U.S.C. 601(n)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(13)(A) If it is imported into the United States unless 
        it bears or is accompanied by labeling that identifies the 
        country of origin of the animal that is the source of the 
        imported carcass, part thereof, or meat or is part of the 
        contents of the imported meat food product.
            ``(B) If it originates from an animal that was imported 
        into the United States less than 10 days prior to slaughter 
        unless it bears or is accompanied by labeling that identifies 
        the country of origin of the animal.
            ``(C) If it is a meat food product prepared in the United 
        States using any carcass, part thereof, or meat imported into 
        the United States unless the meat food product bears or is 
        accompanied by labeling that identifies the country of origin 
        of the animal that is the source of the imported carcass, part 
        thereof, or meat.
            ``(D) In this paragraph, the term `country of origin' means 
        the country or countries in which an animal is raised before 
        slaughter.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 1(n) of the Federal Meat 
Inspection Act is amended--
            (1) by striking ``if'' at the beginning of each of 
        paragraphs (1) through (12) and inserting ``If'';
            (2) by striking the semicolon at the end of each of 
        paragraphs (1) through (10) and inserting a period; and
            (3) in paragraph (11), by striking ``; or'' at the end and 
        inserting a period.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.
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