[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 76 (Monday, May 18, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S2980]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1276. Mr. BROWN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 1221 proposed by Mr. Hatch to the bill H.R. 1314, to amend
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a right to an
administrative appeal relating to adverse determinations of tax-exempt
status of certain organizations; which was ordered to lie on the table;
as follows:
At the end of title I, add the following:
SEC. 112. ASSESSMENT OF FOOD SAFETY SYSTEMS OF TRANS-PACIFIC
PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIES.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture and
the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall jointly
submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a
report assessing the food safety systems of the countries
involved in the negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership
agreement.
(b) Elements.--The report required by subsection (a) shall
include, with respect to each country involved in the
negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, the
following:
(1) An assessment of the following:
(A) The food safety legal and regulatory system in place in
that country.
(B) The microbiological and chemical contaminant standards
used by that country, as compared to such standards in the
United States.
(C) The frequency of testing conducted for microbiological
and chemical contaminants by the government of that country.
(D) The food safety laboratory capacity for that country.
(E) The food safety inspection system used by that country
and the frequency of such inspections.
(F) Whether that country has a formal food safety
equivalency agreement or a similar agreement in effect with
the United States.
(G) The volume of food products imported into the United
States from that country, expressed in pounds amd broken down
by classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States, for each of the 5 years preceding the date of
the report.
(H) The amount of each such food product that received
physical inspection at United States ports of entry each year
during the 5-year period preceding the date of the report,
expressed as a percentage of the total number of pounds
imported from that country during that 5-year period.
(I) The amount of each such food product that received
laboratory analysis by United States food safety authorities
each year during that 5-year period, expressed as a
percentage of the total number of pounds imported from that
country during that 5-year period.
(2) A list of food products that country rejected for
exportation to the United States during that 5-year period.
(3) A description of any incidents that led to complete
bans of food products from being exported to the United
States from that country during that 5-year period and the
reasons for such bans.
(4) A description of any incidents in which that country
has been found to have transshipped food products the
importation of which is prohibited by the United States from
other foreign countries for exportation to the United States.
(5) A description of major food safety incidents within
that country during the 5 years preceding the date of the
report that have raised concerns about the food safety system
of the country.
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