[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4627 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4627

  To provide for a program to educate the public regarding the use of 
   biotechnology in producing food for human consumption, to support 
  additional scientific research regarding the potential economic and 
  environmental risks and benefits of using biotechnology to produce 
                     food, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 9, 2000

   Mr. Holt introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Commerce, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for a program to educate the public regarding the use of 
   biotechnology in producing food for human consumption, to support 
  additional scientific research regarding the potential economic and 
  environmental risks and benefits of using biotechnology to produce 
                     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 ``Food Biotechnology Information 
Initiative Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Biotechnology has been used for many years to develop 
        new and useful products used in a variety of industries.
            (2) Biotechnology holds the potential for benefits to 
        mankind in a number of areas by allowing individual, well-
        characterized genes to be transferred from one organism to 
        another organism and thus increasing the genetic diversity 
        available to improve commercial plant species.
            (3) Plant varieties created with biotechnology will offer 
        foods with better taste, more nutrition, and longer shelf life. 
        Farmers will be able to grow these varieties more efficiently, 
        leading to lower costs for consumers and greater environmental 
        protection through effective and targeted pesticide and 
        herbicide use and a reduction in soil erosion through an 
        increase in the use of no-till farming.
            (4) On April 5, 2000, the National Research Council 
        released a report entitled ``Genetically Modified Pest-
        Protected Plants: Science and Regulation''. The report 
        emphasized that there is no evidence that foods produced though 
        biotechnology are unsafe to eat, but that, given the current 
        level of public concern over these foods, Federal agencies 
        should conduct more research to reduce the concern about 
        potential harm to human health and the environment. In 
        addition, the report recommends that the quantity, quality, and 
        public accessibility of information on the regulation of 
        transgenic pest-protected plant products should be expanded.
            (5) The Food and Drug Administration, the Department of 
        Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency are all 
        involved in the regulatory process for the use of biotechnology 
        in foods.
            (6) United States consumers are increasingly concerned that 
        food safety issues regarding the use of biotechnology in foods 
        are not being adequately addressed.
            (7) All foods, including those based on biotechnology, 
        should continue to be subject to a rigorous Government 
        regulatory process that evaluates the safety of the products to 
        the consumer and the environment. This process should continue 
        to be based on scientific methods that meet state-of-the-art 
        scientific standards.
            (8) Ensuring that the underlying scientific information and 
        the regulatory framework for managing biotechnology is shared 
        with consumers is imperative and should be an integral part of 
        United States food and agriculture programs.

SEC. 3. PROGRAM OF PUBLIC EDUCATION REGARDING USE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IN 
              PRODUCING FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture, in collaboration 
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (acting through the 
Commissioner of Food and Drugs and in consultation with the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency), shall develop 
and implement a program to communicate with the public regarding the 
use of biotechnology in producing food for human consumption. The 
information provided under the program shall include the following:
            (1) Science-based evidence on the safety of foods produced 
        with biotechnology.
            (2) Scientific data on the human outcomes of the use of 
        biotechnology to produce food for human consumption.
            (3) An analysis of the risks and benefits to the 
        environment of such use, conducted in accordance with 
        established scientific principles, and including information 
        from the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
    (b) Administration as Component of President's Food Safety 
Initiative.--Subsection (a) shall be carried out as a component of the 
Food Safety Initiative announced by the President on January 25, 1997, 
and carried out by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the 
Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Of 
the funds available for such Initiative for fiscal years 2001 and 2002, 
not more than $10,000,000 may be expended each such year for carrying 
out subsection (a).

SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS AND 
              BENEFITS OF USING BIOTECHNOLOGY IN FOOD PRODUCTION.

    (a) Expansion of Current Research Program.--Subsections (a) and (b) 
of section 1668 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act 
of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5921) are amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this section to--
            ``(1) authorize and support research intended to identify 
        and analyze technological developments in the area of 
        biotechnology for the purpose of evaluating the potential 
        positive and adverse effects of such developments on the United 
States farm economy and the environment and addressing public concerns 
about potential adverse environmental effects of using biotechnology in 
food production; and
            ``(2) authorize research to help regulators develop 
        policies, as soon as practicable, concerning the introduction 
        and use of biotechnology.
    ``(b) Grant Program.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish 
a competitive grant program to provide the necessary funding for 
research designed to further the purposes specified in subsection (a). 
The grant program shall be conducted through the Cooperative State 
Research, Education, and Extension Service and the Agricultural 
Research Service''.
    (b) Types of Research.--Subsection (c) of such section is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(4) Research designed to evaluate the potential effect of 
        biotechnology developments on the United States farm economy, 
        the competitive status of United States agricultural 
        commodities and foods in foreign markets, and consumer 
        confidence in the healthfulness and safety of agricultural 
        commodities and foods.''.
    (c) Priority.--Subsection (d)(1) of such section is amended by 
inserting before the semicolon the following: ``, but giving priority 
to projects designed to develop improved methods for identifying 
potential allergens in pest-protected plants, with particular emphasis 
on the development of tests with human immune-system endpoints and of 
more reliable animal models''.
    (d) Conforming Amendments.--(1) Subsection (g)(2) of such section 
is amended by striking ``for research on biotechnology risk 
assessment''.
    (2) The heading of such section is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 1668. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS 
              AND BENEFITS OF USING BIOTECHNOLOGY IN FOOD 
              PRODUCTION.''.

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