98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB3085

 

Introduced , by Rep. Deborah Mell

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods Act. Requires genetically engineered raw agricultural commodities and processed foods offered for retail sale to bear certain labels. Creates exemptions for certain classes of products. Grants the Illinois Department of Agriculture the authority to adopt rules necessary to implement the Act. Requires the Department to annually publish a list of raw agricultural commodities commonly cultivated in a genetically engineered form. Provides for enforcement of the Act by the Department and the Attorney General. Contains a severability provision. Effective January 1, 2014.


LRB098 03781 JDS 33797 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB3085LRB098 03781 JDS 33797 b

1    AN ACT concerning the labeling of foods that contain
2genetically engineered material.
 
3    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4represented in the General Assembly:
 
5    Section 1. Short title. This Act shall be known and may be
6cited as the Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods
7Act.
 
8    Section 5. Legislative findings and purpose.
9    (a) The General Assembly finds and declares that:
10        (1) Consumers have the right to know whether the foods
11    they purchase contain genetically engineered material. The
12    genetic engineering of plants and animals often causes
13    unintended consequences. Manipulating genes and inserting
14    them into organisms is an imprecise process that is capable
15    of creating unpredictable or uncontrollable results and
16    causing adverse health or environmental consequences.
17        (2) Mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods
18    provides a currently lacking method for tracking the
19    potential health effects of consuming genetically
20    engineered foods.
21        (3) Currently, there is no federal requirement that
22    foods be labeled to disclose that they are genetically
23    engineered.

 

 

HB3085- 2 -LRB098 03781 JDS 33797 b

1        (4) The vast majority of the public wants to know
2    whether food has been genetically engineered.
3        (5) Countries around the world, including all European
4    Union member states, Japan, and other key United States
5    trading partners, have laws mandating disclosure of
6    genetically engineered foods on food labels. No
7    international agreements prohibit the mandatory labeling
8    of genetically engineered foods.
9        (6) Without labeling, consumers of genetically
10    engineered food may unknowingly violate their own dietary
11    and religious restrictions.
12        (7) The cultivation of genetically engineered crops is
13    also capable of causing serious impact on the environment.
14    For example, most genetically engineered crops are
15    designed to withstand weed-killing herbicides. As a
16    result, hundreds of millions of pounds of additional
17    herbicides have been used and continue to be used on the
18    nation's farms. Because of the massive use of those
19    products, herbicide-resistant weeds have flourished,
20    which, in turn, has caused the use of increasingly toxic
21    herbicides. These more toxic herbicides damage our
22    agricultural areas, contaminate our drinking water, and
23    pose health risks to consumers and farm workers. The public
24    should have the choice to avoid purchasing foods produced
25    in ways that are capable of leading to these harms.
26        (8) Organic farmers are prohibited from using

 

 

HB3085- 3 -LRB098 03781 JDS 33797 b

1    genetically engineered seeds. Nonetheless, these farmers'
2    crops are regularly threatened with accidental
3    contamination from either contaminated seed or neighboring
4    lands where genetically engineered crops abound. This risk
5    of contamination may erode public confidence in organic
6    products, significantly undermining the organic foods
7    industry. Consumers should have the choice to avoid
8    purchasing foods whose production could harm the State's
9    organic farmers and its organic foods industry.
10    (b) The purpose of this Act is to ensure that people are
11fully informed about whether the foods they purchase and eat
12are genetically engineered and to make it possible for people
13to choose for themselves whether to purchase and eat those
14foods.
 
15    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
16    "Cultivated commercially" means grown or raised in the
17regular course of a business or trade.
18    "Department" means the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
19    "Enzyme" means a protein that catalyzes chemical reactions
20of other substances without itself being destroyed or altered
21upon completion of these reactions.
22    "Food facility" means an operation that stores, prepares,
23packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food for human
24consumption, including an operation where food is consumed on
25or off the premises, regardless of whether there is a charge

 

 

HB3085- 4 -LRB098 03781 JDS 33797 b

1for the food.
2    "Genetically engineered" means any food that contains, in
3whole or in part, or is produced from, an organism or organisms
4in which the genetic material has been changed through the (i)
5application of in vitro nucleic acid techniques, including
6recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid techniques and the direct
7injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles. These
8techniques include, but are not limited to, recombinant
9deoxyribonucleic acid or ribonucleic acid techniques that use
10vector systems and techniques involving the direct
11introduction into the organisms of hereditary material
12prepared outside the organisms, such as micro-injection,
13macro-injection, chemoporation, electroporation,
14micro-encapsulation, and liposome fusion or (ii) fusion of
15cells, including protoplast fusion, or hybridization
16techniques that overcome natural physiological, reproductive,
17or recombination barriers, where the donor cells or protoplasts
18do not fall within the same taxonomic family, in a way that
19does not occur by natural multiplication or natural
20recombination.
21    "Ingredient" means any substance that is used in the
22manufacture, or otherwise contained in the final form, of a
23processed food.
24    "Processed food" means any food other than a raw
25agricultural commodity and includes any food produced from a
26raw agricultural commodity that has been subject to processing,

 

 

HB3085- 5 -LRB098 03781 JDS 33797 b

1including, but not limited to, canning, smoking, pressing,
2cooking, freezing, dehydration, fermentation, or milling.
3    "Processing aid" means (i) a substance that is added to a
4food during the processing of the food but is then removed from
5the food before it is packaged in its finished form; (ii) a
6substance that is added to a food during processing, that is
7converted into constituents normally present in the food, and
8that does not significantly increase the amount of the
9constituents naturally found in the food; or (iii) a substance
10that is added to a food for its technical or functional effects
11in the processing but is present in the finished good at
12insignificant levels and that does not have any technical or
13functional effect in that finished food.
 
14    Section 15. Mandatory labeling of genetically engineered
15foods.
16    (a) Beginning January 1, 2014, for any genetically
17engineered raw agricultural commodity that is offered for
18retail sale, a clear and conspicuous statement consisting of
19the words "genetically engineered" must appear either (i) on
20the front package or label of that commodity or (ii) in the
21case of such a commodity that is not separately packaged or
22labeled, on a label appearing on the retail store shelf or bin
23in which that commodity is displayed for sale.
24    (b) Beginning January 1, 2014, any package offered for
25retail sale containing processed food that is made with or

 

 

HB3085- 6 -LRB098 03781 JDS 33797 b

1derived from any genetically engineered ingredient must
2include a clear and conspicuous statement on the front or back
3of the package, consisting of the words "contains genetically
4engineered ingredient(s)", followed by the name of the
5ingredient or ingredients. If an ingredients list appears on
6the package, then the following requirements must be met:
7        (1) The statement must appear underneath the
8    ingredients list.
9        (2) In the case of processed food containing more than
10    one genetically engineered ingredient, the genetically
11    engineered ingredients listed after the statement must be
12    listed in the same order in which they appear in the full
13    ingredients list.
14    (c) In lieu of compliance with subsection (b) of this
15Section, any package containing processed food that is made
16with or is derived from any ingredient that may be genetically
17engineered must include a clear and conspicuous statement on
18the front or back of the package, consisting of the words "may
19contain genetically engineered ingredient(s)", followed by the
20name of the ingredients. If an ingredients list appears on the
21package, then the following requirements must be met:
22        (1) The statement must appear underneath the
23    ingredients list.
24        (2) In the case of processed food containing more than
25    one ingredient that may be genetically engineered, the
26    genetically engineered ingredients listed after the

 

 

HB3085- 7 -LRB098 03781 JDS 33797 b

1    statement must be listed in the same order in which they
2    appear in the full ingredients list.
3    (d) The requirements of subsections (a) through (c) of this
4Section do not apply to any of the following:
5        (1) any raw agricultural commodity that, on the date it
6    is offered for retail sale, is not listed in either
7    subsection (a) of Section 25 of this Act or the most recent
8    list published pursuant to subsection (b) of Section 25 of
9    this Act;
10        (2) a processed food that does not contain any
11    ingredient derived from a raw agricultural commodity that,
12    on the date the processed food is manufactured, is listed
13    in either subsection (a) of Section 25 of this Act or the
14    most recent list published pursuant to subsection (b) of
15    Section 25 of this Act;
16        (3) food consisting entirely of, or derived entirely
17    from, an animal that has not itself been genetically
18    engineered, regardless of whether the animal has been fed
19    or injected with any genetically engineered food or any
20    drug that has been produced through means of genetic
21    engineering;
22        (4) a raw agricultural commodity or ingredient that has
23    been grown, raised, or produced without the knowing and
24    intentional use of genetically engineered seed or food,
25    except that to be included within this exclusion, the
26    person responsible for complying with this Section with

 

 

HB3085- 8 -LRB098 03781 JDS 33797 b

1    respect to a raw agricultural commodity or ingredient must
2    obtain, from whoever sold the commodity or ingredient to
3    that person, a sworn statement that the commodity or
4    ingredient (i) has not been knowingly or intentionally
5    genetically engineered and (ii) has been segregated from,
6    and has not been knowingly or intentionally commingled
7    with, goods that may have been genetically engineered at
8    any time; in providing a sworn statement, a person may rely
9    on a sworn statement from his or her own supplier that
10    contains that affirmation;
11        (5) any processed food that would be subject to this
12    Section solely because it includes one or more genetically
13    engineered processing aids or enzymes;
14        (6) any alcoholic beverage that is subject to
15    regulation under the Liquor Control Act of 1934;
16        (7) until January 1, 2015, any processed food that
17    would be subject to this Section solely because it includes
18    one or more genetically engineered ingredients, provided
19    that (i) no single ingredient accounts for more than
20    one-half of 1% of the total weight of the processed food,
21    and (ii) the processed food does not contain more than 10
22    of those ingredients;
23        (8) food that an independent organization has
24    determined has not been knowingly and intentionally
25    produced from or commingled with genetically engineered
26    seed or genetically engineered food, provided that the

 

 

HB3085- 9 -LRB098 03781 JDS 33797 b

1    determination has been made pursuant to a sampling and
2    testing procedure approved for this purpose in rules
3    adopted by the Department;
4        (9) food that has been lawfully certified to be
5    labeled, marketed, and offered for sale as "organic"
6    pursuant to applicable State or federal organic food
7    production laws and regulations;
8        (10) food that is not packaged for retail sale and that
9    either (i) is a processed food prepared and intended for
10    immediate human consumption, (ii) is served, sold, or
11    otherwise provided in any restaurant or other food facility
12    that is primarily engaged in the sale of food prepared and
13    intended for immediate human consumption; or
14        (11) medical food, as defined in 21 U.S.C. 360ee(b)(3).
 
15    Section 20. Rulemaking authority. The Department may adopt
16rules necessary to implement this Act, except that the
17Department is not authorized to create any exemptions beyond
18those provided in subsection (d) of Section 15 of this Act.
19    Rules adopted by the Department to comply with subdivision
20(d)(8) of Section 15 may not approve a sampling and testing
21procedure unless it is consistent with sampling and testing
22principles recommended by the American National Standards
23Institute, or the International Organization for
24Standardization (ISO) or other internationally recognized
25standards organization.
 

 

 

HB3085- 10 -LRB098 03781 JDS 33797 b

1    Section 25. Known genetically engineered commodities.
2    (a) The General Assembly finds that as of January 1, 2014,
3the following raw agricultural commodities are commonly
4cultivated commercially in genetically engineered form:
5        (1) alfalfa;
6        (2) canola;
7        (3) corn;
8        (4) cotton;
9        (5) papaya;
10        (6) soy;
11        (7) sugar beets; and
12        (8) zucchini and yellow summer squash.
13    (b) By January 1, 2015, and annually thereafter, the
14Department shall publish an updated list of additional raw
15agricultural commodities that are, at that time, commonly
16cultivated commercially in genetically engineered form. The
17list must be based on the most current available information.
 
18    Section 30. Enforcement.
19    (a) Any person who violates any provision of this Act or
20any rule adopted hereunder shall be liable for a civil penalty
21not to exceed $1,000 per day for each day during which the
22violation continues.
23    (b) The penalties provided for in this Section may be
24recovered in a civil action. The Attorney General may, at the

 

 

HB3085- 11 -LRB098 03781 JDS 33797 b

1request of the Department or on his or her own motion,
2institute a civil action for an injunction, prohibitory or
3mandatory, to restrain violations of this Act or any rule
4adopted hereunder or to require any other actions that may be
5necessary to address violations of this Act or any regulation
6adopted hereunder.
7    (c) The Attorney General shall bring such actions in the
8name of the people of the State of Illinois. Without limiting
9the authority which may exist for the awarding of attorney's
10fees and costs, the court may award costs and reasonable
11attorney's fees, including the reasonable costs of expert
12witnesses and consultants, to the Attorney General in a case
13where he or she has prevailed against a person who has
14committed a willful, knowing, or repeated violation of this Act
15or any rule adopted hereunder.
 
16    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
17severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
18    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
191, 2014.