[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2838 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2838
To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to
provide for a program to provide information to the public on the use
of biotechnology to produce food for human consumption, to support
additional research regarding the potential economic and environmental
risks and benefits of using biotechnology to produce food, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 30, 2000
Mr. Hutchinson introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to
provide for a program to provide information to the public on the use
of biotechnology to produce food for human consumption, to support
additional 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 finds that--
(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 1 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;
(4) agricultural producers will be able to grow those
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;
(5) on April 5, 2000, the National Research Council
released a report entitled ``Genetically Modified Pest-
Protected Plants: Science and Regulation'' that--
(A) emphasized that there is no evidence that foods
produced through biotechnology are unsafe to eat, but
that, given the current level of public concern over
those foods, Federal agencies should conduct more
research to reduce the concern about potential harm to
human health and the environment; and
(B) recommended that the quantity, quality, and
public accessibility of information on the regulation
of transgenic pest-protected plant products should be
expanded;
(6) the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of
Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency are all
involved in regulating the use of biotechnology for producing
foods;
(7) United States consumers are increasingly concerned that
food safety issues regarding the use of biotechnology in foods
are not being adequately addressed;
(8) all foods, including foods that are produced using
biotechnology, should continue to be subject to rigorous
regulation by the Federal Government that--
(A) evaluates the safety of the products to the
consumer and the environment; and
(B) is based on scientific methods that meet state-
of-the-art scientific standards; and
(9) the sharing with consumers of scientific information
produced in regulating biotechnology is imperative and should
be an integral part of United States food and agriculture
programs.
SEC. 3. PUBLIC INFORMATION ON USE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY TO PRODUCE FOOD FOR
HUMAN CONSUMPTION.
Subtitle H of title XVI of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and
Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5921 et seq.) is amended by inserting after
section 1668 (7 U.S.C. 5921) the following:
``SEC. 1668A. PUBLIC INFORMATION ON USE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY TO PRODUCE
FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.
``(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this section, the Secretary, 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 establish a program to provide
information to the public on the use of biotechnology to produce food
for human consumption.
``(b) Information.--The information provided under the program
shall include--
``(1) scientific information 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; and
``(3) an analysis of the risks and benefits to the
environment of such use, conducted in accordance with
established scientific principles and using information
supplied by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency.
``(c) Food Safety Initiative.--
``(1) In general.--This section shall be carried out as a
component of the Food Safety Initiative of the President.
``(2) Funding.--Of the amount of funds made available to
carry out for the Food Safety Initiative for each of fiscal
years 2001 and 2002, not more than $10,000,000 shall be
available to carry out this section.''.
SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS AND
BENEFITS OF USING BIOTECHNOLOGY IN FOOD PRODUCTION.
(a) In General.--Section 1668 of the Food, Agriculture,
Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5921) is amended by
striking subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the following:
``(a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are--
``(1) to 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 the 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) to authorize research to help regulatory agencies
develop policies, as soon as practicable, concerning the
introduction and use of biotechnology.
``(b) Grant Program.--The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through
the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service and
the Agricultural Research Service, shall establish a competitive grant
program to conduct research to promote the purposes described in
subsection (a).''.
(b) Types of Research.--Section 1668(c) of the Food, Agriculture,
Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5921(c)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
``(4) Research designed to evaluate--
``(A) the potential effect of biotechnology
developments on the United States farm economy;
``(B) the competitive status of United States
agricultural commodities and foods in foreign markets;
and
``(C) consumer confidence in the healthfulness and
safety of agricultural commodities and foods.''.
(c) Priority.--Section 1668(d)(1) of the Food, Agriculture,
Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5921(d)(1)) 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) Section 1668 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation,
and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5921) is amended by striking
the section heading and inserting the following:
``SEC. 1668. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
AND BENEFITS OF USING BIOTECHNOLOGY IN FOOD
PRODUCTION.''.
(2) Section 1668(g)(2) of the Food, Agriculture,
Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5921(g)(2)) is
amended by striking ``for research on biotechnology risk
assessment''.
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