[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1907 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1907

   To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to use consumer 
information maintained by retailers to improve recalls of food, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 2, 2009

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to use consumer 
information maintained by retailers to improve recalls of 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 ``Improving Communication with 
Consumers During Food Recall Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. USING CONSUMER INFORMATION MAINTAINED BY RETAILERS TO IMPROVE 
              RECALLS OF FOOD.

    (a) Prohibited Act.--Section 301 of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 331) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(oo) The failure to comply with an order issued under section 418 
(regarding recalls of food).''.
    (b) Recall Notices.--Chapter IV of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

``SEC. 418. USING CONSUMER INFORMATION MAINTAINED BY RETAILERS TO 
              IMPROVE RECALLS OF FOOD.

    ``(a) Applicability.--This section applies in the case of any 
recall, whether voluntary or mandatory, of food that is adulterated or 
misbranded in a manner that, if consumed, may result in illness or 
injury.
    ``(b) Recall Notice.--
            ``(1) Retailer requirements.--To facilitate a recall 
        described in subsection (a), the Secretary may by order require 
        any retailer of the food--
                    ``(A) to inform the Secretary regarding whether the 
                retailer has a system in place capable of identifying 
                the persons who purchased the food; and
                    ``(B) to issue a recall notice to those persons if 
                the retailer does have such a system in place.
            ``(2) Issuance of notice.--A recall notice issued under 
        paragraph (1) shall--
                    ``(A) be made in such manner (which may include the 
                use of telephone calls or electronic mail) and contain 
                such information as the Secretary may require; and
                    ``(B) be issued by--
                            ``(i) the retailer; or
                            ``(ii) a third party selected by the 
                        retailer.
    ``(c) Reimbursement.--If the Secretary requires a retailer to issue 
a recall notice for food under subsection (b), the Secretary shall--
            ``(1) identify the manufacturers, importers, distributors, 
        or other persons that most likely caused the adulteration or 
        misbranding of the food; and
            ``(2) by order require such persons to reimburse the 
        retailer for any costs incurred to comply with an order issued 
        under subsection (b).
    ``(d) Rule of Construction.--This section shall not be construed to 
authorize the Secretary to require any retailer--
            ``(1) to establish or maintain a system described in 
        subsection (b)(1)(A); or
            ``(2) to provide any information on the retailer's 
        customers, inventory, or sales to the manufacturer, importer, 
        or distributor of the recalled food or to any person required 
        under subsection (c) to pay reimbursement.''.
                                 <all>