[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 58 (Thursday, May 12, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 12, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
    COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE TO S. 2087, EXTENSION OF THE DEADLINE FOR 
APPLICATION OF NUTRITION AND NUTRIENT CONTENT LABELING REQUIREMENTS TO 
                             FOOD PRODUCTS

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise in support of the committee 
substitute, and I want to take this opportunity to express my 
wholehearted support for the fine efforts of our colleague, Senator 
Bumpers, to bring a measure of rationality to Food and Drug 
Administration regulation under the Nutrition Labeling and Education 
Act.
  There is no disagreement in this body that the new food labels 
mandated by the NLEA should be applied. However, the May 8 deadline for 
the new labeling has caused an extraordinary hardship for many 
manufacturers and distributors, and it is entirely appropriate that the 
Congress rectify that problem tonight.
  This problem with the NLEA was first brought to my attention by 
officials of Continental Baking Co. in Utah, including Mr. Darrell 
Ogden, the plant manager. Continental Baking estimates that they have 
$2 million in old-stock labels, including almost $100,000 worth of 
stock in Utah.
  As Mr. Ogden told me, circumstances beyond the control of many 
manufacturers and packagers have caused them to have substantial 
leftover stocks of old format packaging. The winter weather, which 
caused slower-than-expected delays in sales, combined with printing 
delays in many areas, have contributed to this problem.
  It does not make any sense for that packaging to be discarded. This 
is not an attempt on anyone's part to skirt the law, but rather a 
recognition that it is ridiculous for substantial stocks of old 
packaging to be discarded simply because of any arbitrary deadline.
  The committee substitute grants a 3-month extension of the deadline 
so that manufacturers and distributors will have the opportunity to use 
up this old stock. I think it is important we grant this extension, 
although I do wish it could be for a longer period of time.
  It has been extremely disappointing to me that the Food and Drug 
Administration could not handle this technical detail administratively. 
Yet again, they have shown their intransigence on an issue which I 
believe could have been rectified relatively easily. I am very pleased 
that the Congress is taking this necessary action tonight, and again, I 
thank our colleague, Senator Bumpers, for his tireless efforts on 
behalf of American business.

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