[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 154 (Thursday, November 8, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11615-S11616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. Feingold:
  S. 1664. A bill to require country of origin labeling of raw 
agricultural forms of ginseng, and for other purposes; to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. Feingold. Madam President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
that addresses the increased amount of smuggled and mis-labeled ginseng 
entering this country.
  This legislation is similar to a bill that I introduced in the last 
Congress, but is strengthened with a number of provisions based on the 
suggestions from ginseng growers and the Ginseng Board of Wisconsin.
  In addition to proposing a refined process of country-of-origin 
labeling for ginseng products, my new legislation closes a loophole in 
the regulations governing dietary supplements, where producers of 
products other than ginseng are currently advertising them as a type of 
ginseng.
  In order to coordinate the efforts to eliminate the practice of 
ginseng smuggling, this legislation also requires the Department of 
Justice, EPA, and other Federal agencies to coordinate their efforts to 
crack down on smuggled ginseng, which often contains pesticides that 
are banned for use in the United States.
  Chinese and Native American cultures have used ginseng for thousands

[[Page S11616]]

of years for herbal and medicinal purposes.
  In America, ginseng is experiencing a newfound popularity, and I am 
proud to say that my home State of Wisconsin is playing a central role 
in ginseng's resurgence.
  Wisconsin produces 97 percent of the ginseng grown in the United 
States, and 85 percent of the country's ginseng is grown in Marathon 
County.
  The ginseng industry is a economic boon to Marathon County, as well 
as an example of the high quality for which Wisconsin's agriculture 
industry is known.
  Wisconsin ginseng commands a premium price in world markets because 
it is of the highest quality and because it has a lower pesticide and 
chemical content.
  With a huge market for this high-quality ginseng overseas, and 
growing popularity for the ancient root here at home, Wisconsin's 
ginseng industry should have a prosperous future ahead.
  Unfortunately, the outlook for ginseng farmers is marred by a serious 
problem--smuggled and mislabed ginseng. Wisconsin ginseng is considered 
so superior to ginseng grown abroad that smugglers will go to great 
lengths to label ginseng grown in Canada or Asia as ``Wisconsin-
grown.''
  Here's how the switch takes place: Smugglers take Asian or Canadian-
growing ginseng and ship it to plants in China, allegedly to have the 
ginseng sorted into various grades.
  Whle the sorting process is itself a legitimate part of distributing 
ginseng, smugglers often use it as a ruse to switch Wisconsin ginseng 
with the Asian or Canadian ginseng considered inferior by consumers.
  The smugglers know that while Chinese-grown ginseng has a retail of 
about $5-$6 per pound, while Wisconsin-grown ginseng is valued at 
roughly $16-$20 per pound.
  To make matters even tougher for Wisconsin's ginseng farmers, there 
is no accurate way of testing ginseng to determine where it was grown, 
other than testing for pesticides that are legal in Canada and China 
but are banned in the United States.
  And in some cases, smugglers can even find ways around the pesticide 
tests. Last year, a ConsumerLab.com study confirmed that much of the 
ginseng sold in the U.S. contained harmful chemicals and metals, such 
as lead and arsenic.
  That is because the majority of ginseng sold in the U.S originates 
from countries with lower pesticide standards, so it's vitally 
important that consumers know which ginseng is really grown in 
Wisconsin.
  Some domestic and foreign countries are also labeling certain 
products as ginseng when they are in fact a distinctly different 
product. Due to a loophole in the regulations governing dietary 
supplements, products other than ginseng are currently advertising 
themselves as a type of ginseng. For example, some products claim to 
include a product known as ``Siberian Ginseng,'' which is actually Eleu
therococcus, a bush that is a distinctly different product from 
ginseng.
  Ginseng is a root, not a bush, and consumers have the right to know 
that when they reach for a high quality ginseng product, they are 
buying just that--gingseng, not some ground up bush.
  For the sake of ginseng farmers and consumers, the U.S. Senate must 
crack down on smuggled and mislabeled ginseng.
  Without adequate labeling, consumers have no way of knowing the most 
basic information about the ginseng they purchase, where it was grown, 
what quality or grade it is, or whether it contains dangerous 
pesticides.
  My legislation proposes some common sense steps to address two of the 
challenges facing the ginseng industry, and none of these proposals 
costs the taxpayers a dime.
  The first section requires mandatory country of origin labeling at 
the port of entry, to prevent the practice of mixing foreign ginseng 
with domestic ginseng. This would allow buyers of ginseng to more 
easily prevent foreign companies from mixing foreign produced ginseng 
with ginseng produced in America. The country of origin labeling is a 
simple but effective way to enable consumers to make an informed 
decision.
  This legislation also closes a loophole in U.S. law that allows 
products other than ginseng to advertise themselves as a type of 
ginseng. Under my proposal, when a consumer purchases a product labeled 
as containing ginseng, they will know what they are buying.
  This legislation also requires the Department of Justice, EPA, and 
other Federal agencies to coordinate their efforts to crack down on 
smuggled ginseng, which often contains pesticides that are banned for 
use in the United States. The lax enforcement of smuggled ginseng also 
puts our producers on an unfair playing field. The mixing of superior 
Wisconsin ginseng with lower quality foreign ginseng root penalizes the 
grower and eliminates the incentive to provide the consumer with a 
superior product.
  We must give ginseng growers the support they deserve by implementing 
these common sense reforms that also help consumers make informed 
choices about the ginseng that they consume.
  We must ensure when ginseng consumers reach for a quality ginseng 
product, such as Wisconsin grown ginseng, that they are getting the 
real thing, not a cheap imitation.
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