[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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