[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4665 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4665

 To protect America's food supply and facilitate lawful importation of 
                 safe and unadulterated food products.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 23, 2004

Mr. Conyers (for himself and Ms. Harris) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To protect America's food supply and facilitate lawful importation of 
                 safe and unadulterated food products.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Importation of 
Safe Food Act of 2004''.
    (b) Findings.--The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism 
        Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-188) 
        provided the Secretary of Health and Human Services with the 
        authority and mandate to protect United States borders against 
        threats posed by the potential of unsafe food articles entering 
        America's food supply.
            (2) Many legitimate importers of unadulterated and safe 
        food articles posing no risk to the health or safety of animals 
        or humans will be unable to comply with the regulations enacted 
        or proposed to be fully enforced by the Secretary as a result 
        of certain of the requirements placed upon the Secretary as set 
        forth in such Act.
            (3) It is incumbent upon the Congress to fully enable the 
        Secretary to protect Americans from all threats posed or that 
        may potentially be posed by food articles entering ports of 
        entry into the United States.
            (4) It is equally incumbent upon the Congress to ensure 
        that the protections enacted by the Secretary do not unduly and 
        unnecessarily hinder legitimate commercial activity that poses 
        no such threat to the health or safety of American consumers or 
        potential consumers.

SEC. 2. REGISTRATION OF FOOD FACILITIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 415(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 350d(a)), as added by section 305(a) of Public 
Law 107-188, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``or for export from the 
        United States'' after ``consumption in the United States''; and
            (2) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end the following: 
        ``Nothing in this paragraph may be construed as preventing the 
        Secretary from verifying compliance with this section.''.
    (b) Importation; Failure to Register.--Section 801(l) of the 
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 381(l)), as added by 
section 305(c) of Public Law 107-188, is amended by striking ``(l)(1) 
If'' and all that follows through ``has not'' in the first sentence and 
inserting the following: ``(l) If an article of food is being imported 
or offered for import into the United States, and the Secretary is 
unable to verify that the article is from a foreign facility for which 
a registration has''.

SEC. 3. PRIOR NOTICE OF IMPORTED FOOD SHIPMENTS.

    Section 801(m) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 
U.S.C. 381(m)), as added by section 307(a) of Public Law 107-188, is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``identity of each of the 
                following:'' and inserting ``identity of each of the 
                following by whatever means available to the 
                importer:''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``the name and address of'' before 
                ``the manufacturer and shipper''; and
            (2) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the following 
        subparagraph:
                    ``(C) This subsection may not be construed as 
                authorizing the Secretary, without additional reason or 
                cause, to deny importation of any food article solely 
                on the basis of an incomplete or otherwise inaccurate 
                notice under paragraph (1), provided such notice 
                contains verifiable information for the Secretary to 
                determine whether there is any credible evidence or 
                information indicating that such article presents a 
                threat of serious adverse health consequences or death 
                to humans or animals.''.
                                 <all>