[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7563 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7563

   To strengthen compliance with the FDA Food Traceability Rule, to 
 enhance the FDA foodborne illness outbreak investigation process, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 6, 2024

Mr. Scott Franklin of Florida (for himself, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, and 
 Mr. Panetta) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To strengthen compliance with the FDA Food Traceability Rule, to 
 enhance the FDA foodborne illness outbreak investigation process, 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 Traceability Enhancement Act''.

SEC. 2. EASING RECORDKEEPING AND TRACEABILITY LOT CODE REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 204(d) of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (21 U.S.C. 
2223(d)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ``not more than 2 years'' 
        and inserting ``not more than 1 year''; and
            (2) in paragraph (6), by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(J) Traceability lot codes at retail food 
                establishments, restaurants, and warehouses.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The requirements under 
                        this subsection shall not require restaurants, 
                        retail food establishments, and warehouses to 
                        maintain traceability lot code information or 
                        provide traceability lot code information to 
                        the Secretary or other entities in the supply 
                        chain.
                            ``(ii) Warehouse defined.--In this 
                        subparagraph, the term `warehouse' means any 
                        facility primarily engaged in the storage of 
                        food to be shipped to retail food 
                        establishments or restaurants.''.

SEC. 3. PILOT PROJECTS ON FOOD TRACING.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in 
this section referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall conduct at least 9 
pilot projects, in coordination with food industry members operating 
restaurants, retail food establishments, and warehouses distributing to 
retail food establishments and restaurants, to--
            (1) measure the effectiveness of foodborne illness outbreak 
        investigations conducted without the use of traceability lot 
        code information; and
            (2) identify and evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness 
        of low-cost food tracing technologies.
    (b) Diversity.--In conducting the pilot projects required by 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
            (1) conduct--
                    (A) at least 3 pilot projects in coordination with 
                restaurants;
                    (B) at least 3 pilot projects in coordination with 
                retail food establishments; and
                    (C) at least 3 pilot projects in coordination with 
                warehouses distributing to retail food establishments 
                and restaurants; and
            (2) ensure that each pilot project uses at least 1 
        commodity--
                    (A) included in the Food Traceability List 
                published by the Food and Drug Administration on 
                November 21, 2022 (87 Fed. Reg. 70916); and
                    (B) not used in another such pilot project.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the 
findings of the pilot projects required by subsection (a), including--
            (1) recommendations to minimize disruptions across the food 
        supply chain;
            (2) recommendations to ensure product availability and 
        diversity are not negatively impacted;
            (3) recommendations to reduce the compliance burden for 
        small businesses covered by the final rule titled 
        ``Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain 
        Foods'', published on November 21, 2022 (87 Fed. Reg. 70910);
            (4) a list of low-cost food tracing technologies that are 
        commercially available and an evaluation of the effectiveness 
        of each technology; and
            (5) a list of all revisions that, as a result of such pilot 
        projects, will be made to such final rule.

SEC. 4. COMPLIANCE DATE OF FINAL RULE ON FOOD TRACEABILITY.

    The compliance date for the final rule titled ``Requirements for 
Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods'', published on 
November 21, 2022 (87 Fed. Reg. 70910), or any other rule promulgated 
in accordance with section 204 of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act 
(21 U.S.C. 2223), shall be no earlier than the date that is 2 years 
after the date on which the pilot projects required by section 3(a) are 
completed.

SEC. 5. REPORT ON BARRIERS TO INFORMATION SHARING BETWEEN FDA AND FOOD 
              ESTABLISHMENTS.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit to Congress a 
report, which shall include a list of all barriers, legal or otherwise, 
that prevent the Food and Drug Administration from sharing with retail 
food establishments and restaurants pertinent information regarding 
foodborne illness outbreak investigations, including--
            (1) information surrounding early warning signals of 
        foodborne illnesses;
            (2) reported consumer illnesses; and
            (3) suspected transmission vehicles of a foodborne illness.
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