[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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