[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 130 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 130

 To amend the labeling requirements of the Dolphin Protection Consumer 
                Information Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 9, 2003

 Mrs. Boxer (for herself, Mr. Biden, Mr. Hollings, Mr. Kerry, and Ms. 
   Cantwell) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the labeling requirements of the Dolphin Protection Consumer 
                Information Act, 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 ``Truth in Tuna Labeling Act of 
2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that:
            (1) Consumers have the right to know whether the tuna that 
        they purchase was caught using technologies that kill, harass, 
        adversely impact, or endanger dolphins, porpoises, and whales.
            (2) The provisions of the Dolphin Protection Consumer 
        Information Act that require ``dolphin safe'' labeling have 
        served as an incentive to reduce dolphin mortalities.
            (3) According to the Annual Report of the Marine Mammal 
        Commission and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, 
        dolphin mortality has decreased from more than 100,000 dolphin 
        kills each year to fewer than 2,000 kills each year since the 
        passage of the ``dolphin safe'' label requirements in 1990.
            (4) In 1997, Congress began to erode the ``dolphin safe'' 
        label, creating exceptions that permit purse seine netting in 
        the Eastern Tropical Pacific and other destructive fishing 
        practices to be used during tuna fishing. On December 31, 2002, 
        the Secretary of Commerce decided to permit tuna caught using 
        these destructive practices to be labeled ``dolphin safe'', a 
        decision that will blatantly mislead the American public. The 
        Secretary's decision will result in an estimated 20,000 to 
        40,000 dolphin deaths each year.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE DOLPHIN PROTECTION CONSUMER INFORMATION ACT.

    The Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act (16 U.S.C. 1385) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking subsections (d) through (h); and
            (2) by inserting the following:
    ``(d) Labeling Standard.--It is a violation of section 5 of the 
Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) for any producer, importer, 
exporter, distributor, or seller of any tuna product that is exported 
from or offered for sale in the United States to include on the label 
of that product the term `Dolphin Safe' or any other term or symbol 
that claims or suggests that the tuna contained in the product was 
harvested using a method of fishing that is not harmful to dolphins if 
the tuna product contains tuna harvested--
            ``(1) on the high seas by a vessel engaged in driftnet 
        fishing;
            ``(2) outside the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean by a 
        vessel using purse seine nets--
                    ``(A) in a fishery in which the Secretary has 
                determined that a regular and significant association 
                occurs between dolphins and tuna (similar to the 
                association between dolphins and tuna in the eastern 
                tropical Pacific Ocean), unless such product is 
                accompanied by a written statement, executed by the 
                captain of the vessel and an observer participating in 
                a national or international program acceptable to the 
                Secretary, certifying that no purse seine net was 
                intentionally deployed on dolphins or used to encircle 
                dolphins and that no dolphins were intentionally chased 
                or harassed during the particular voyage on which the 
                tuna were caught and no dolphins were killed or 
                seriously injured in the sets in which the tuna were 
                caught; or
                    ``(B) in any other fishery (other than a fishery 
                described in paragraph (3)) unless the product is 
                accompanied by a written statement executed by the 
                captain of the vessel certifying that no purse seine 
                net was intentionally deployed on or used to encircle 
                dolphins during the particular voyage on which the tuna 
                was harvested;
            ``(3) by a vessel in a fishery other than one described in 
        paragraph (1), (2) or (4) that is identified by the Secretary 
        as having a regular and significant mortality or serious injury 
        of dolphins, unless such product is accompanied by a written 
        statement executed by the captain of the vessel and an observer 
        participating in a national or international program acceptable 
        to the Secretary that no dolphins were killed or seriously 
        injured in the sets or other gear deployments in which the tuna 
        were caught, provided that the Secretary determines that such 
        an observer statement is necessary; or
            ``(4) except as provided in subsection (e), in the eastern 
        tropical Pacific Ocean by a vessel using purse seine nets.
    ``(e) Special Requirements.--A tuna product that contains tuna 
harvested in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean by a fishing vessel 
using purse seine nets may include on the label of that product the 
term `Dolphin Safe' or other term or symbol that claims or suggests 
that the tuna contained in the product was harvested using a method of 
fishing that is not harmful to dolphins if--
            ``(1) the vessel that harvested the tuna is of a type and 
        size that the Secretary has determined is not capable of 
        deploying its purse seine nets on dolphins or to encircle 
        dolphins; or
            ``(2) the tuna product is accompanied by a written 
        statement--
                    ``(A)(i) executed by the captain of the vessel 
                which harvested the tuna certifying that no tuna were 
                caught on the trip in which such tuna were harvested 
                using a purse seine net intentionally deployed on 
                dolphins or to encircle dolphins, that no dolphins were 
                intentionally chased or harassed in connection with the 
                trip, and that no dolphins were killed or seriously 
                injured during the sets in which the tuna were caught; 
                or
                    ``(ii) which states that an approved observer was 
                on board the vessel during the entire trip in which 
                such tuna were harvested and that purse seine nets were 
                not intentionally deployed on dolphins or to encircle 
                dolphins, that no dolphins were intentionally chased or 
                harassed in connection with the trip, and that no 
                dolphins were killed or seriously injured during the 
                sets in which the tuna were caught and that is executed 
                by--
                            ``(I) the Secretary;
                            ``(II) a representative of the Inter-
                        American Tropical Tuna Commission; or
                            ``(III) an authorized representative of a 
                        country that is a signatory to the Agreement on 
                        the International Dolphin Conservation Program, 
                        done at Washington May 21, 1998, whose observer 
                        program has been approved by the Inter-American 
                        Tropical Tuna Commission or the Secretary; and
                    ``(B) that is endorsed in writing by each exporter, 
                importer, and processor of the tuna product.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by section 3 shall take effect on December 30, 
2002.
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