[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3705 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3705

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to enhance the safety of beef 
 and beef food products originating in the United States by requiring 
 the testing of cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (commonly 
   known as mad cow disease) at the time of slaughter, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 20, 2004

 Mr. George Miller of California introduced the following bill; which 
              was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to enhance the safety of beef 
 and beef food products originating in the United States by requiring 
 the testing of cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (commonly 
   known as mad cow disease) at the time of slaughter, 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 ``Mad Cow Testing Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. POST MORTEM EXAMINATION OF CATTLE FOR BOVINE SPONGIFORM 
              ENCEPHALOPATHY.

    (a) Testing Required.--Section 4 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act 
(21 U.S.C. 604) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``That for'' and inserting ``(a) Post 
        Mortem Examination Required.--For'' ; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Testing for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.--(1) As part of 
the post-mortem examination and inspection required by subsection (a) 
of all cattle carcasses and parts thereof intended for use as human 
food, the Secretary shall require that a test be conducted to determine 
the presence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The Secretary shall 
specify the type of test to be used to comply with this requirement.
    ``(2) The Secretary shall use only personnel of the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service to conduct the tests required by 
paragraph (1). Notwithstanding the Act of June 5, 1948 (Chapter 423; 21 
U.S.C. 695), all costs related to the testing shall be borne by 
slaughtering, meat-canning, salting, packing, rendering, and other 
establishments subject to the testing requirement. The Secretary shall 
collect fees, at rates determined by the Secretary, from such 
establishments to cover the costs incurred or to be incurred by the 
Secretary to conduct the tests. Amounts collected by the Secretary 
under this paragraph shall remain available until expended, without 
further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, to carry out paragraph 
(1).
    ``(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if the Secretary determines 
that a test is not available to accurately determine the presence of 
bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle under a certain age, the 
Secretary may delay the implementation of the testing requirement with 
regard to cattle under that age until such time as an accurate test for 
cattle of that age is readily available. The Secretary shall submit to 
Congress notice of any determination made under this paragraph, 
including the reasons why the delay in implementation is necessary. At 
least once each year during the course of an implementation delay 
granted under this paragraph, the Secretary shall evaluate whether an 
accurate test has been developed for the presence of bovine spongiform 
encephalopathy in cattle of the age covered by the delay. The Secretary 
shall submit to Congress the results of the evaluation.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--Section 4(b) of the Federal Meat Inspection 
Act, as added by subsection (a), shall apply to the slaughter of cattle 
in establishments subject to the such Act beginning not later than 30 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act or such earlier date 
as the Secretary of Agriculture may prescribe.
                                 <all>