Full Text of HB3085 98th General Assembly
HB3085ham001 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Deborah Mell Filed: 3/14/2013
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3085
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3085 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Genetically Engineered Food Labeling Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly | 7 | | finds as follows: | 8 | | (1) Illinois consumers have the right to know whether the | 9 | | foods they purchase
were produced with genetic engineering so | 10 | | they can make informed purchasing decisions.
Labeling is | 11 | | necessary to ensure that consumers are fully and reliably | 12 | | informed
about the products they purchase and consume. | 13 | | (2) Consumers overwhelmingly favor knowing whether the | 14 | | food they purchase and
consume is produced with genetic | 15 | | engineering for a variety of reasons, including health,
| 16 | | economic, environmental, religious, and ethical reasons. Polls |
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| 1 | | consistently show that the vast
majority of the public, more | 2 | | than 90%, wants to know if its food was produced
with genetic | 3 | | engineering. | 4 | | (3) There is currently no federal or State requirement that
| 5 | | genetically engineered (GE) foods be labeled. In contrast, 61 | 6 | | countries, including
Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, | 7 | | Russia, Malaysia, the European Union member
states, and other | 8 | | key U.S. trading partners, already have laws mandating the | 9 | | disclosure of GE
foods on food labels. In 2011, Codex | 10 | | Alimentarius, the food standards organization of the
United | 11 | | Nations, stated that governments are free to decide on whether | 12 | | and how to label
foods produced with genetic engineering. | 13 | | (4) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not | 14 | | require or conduct safety
studies of GE foods. Instead, any | 15 | | safety consultations are voluntary, and GE food
developers may | 16 | | decide what information to provide to the agency. | 17 | | (5) The genetic engineering of plants and animals often | 18 | | causes unintended
consequences. Manipulating genes via genetic | 19 | | engineering and inserting them into
organisms is an imprecise | 20 | | process. The results are not always predictable or | 21 | | controllable.
Mixing plant, animal, bacterial, and viral genes | 22 | | through genetic engineering in
combinations that cannot occur | 23 | | in nature may produce results that lead to adverse health
or | 24 | | environmental consequences. | 25 | | (6) United States government scientists have stated that | 26 | | the artificial insertion of genetic
material into plants via |
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| 1 | | genetic engineering can cause a variety of significant problems | 2 | | with
plant foods. Such genetic engineering can increase the | 3 | | levels of known toxicants or
allergens in foods and create new | 4 | | toxicants or allergens with consequent health concerns. | 5 | | (7) Mandatory identification of foods produced with | 6 | | genetic engineering can provide a
method for detecting, at a | 7 | | large epidemiological scale, the potential health effects of
| 8 | | consuming such foods. | 9 | | (8) Without mandatory disclosure, consumers of GE foods may | 10 | | unknowingly violate
their dietary and religious beliefs. | 11 | | (9) Numerous foreign markets with restrictions on foods | 12 | | produced through genetic
engineering have restricted imports | 13 | | of U.S. crops due to concerns about genetic
engineering. Some | 14 | | foreign markets are choosing to purchase agricultural products | 15 | | from
countries other than the U.S. because GE crops are not | 16 | | identified in the U.S., which makes
it impossible for buyers to | 17 | | determine what does or does not meet their national labeling
| 18 | | laws or restrictions and thus renders U.S. products less | 19 | | desirable. | 20 | | (10) Mandatory identification of foods produced with | 21 | | genetic engineering can be a
critical method of preserving the | 22 | | economic value of exports or domestically sensitive
markets | 23 | | with restrictions on or prohibitions against genetic | 24 | | engineering.
| 25 | | (11) Organic food sales are increasing. While total U.S. | 26 | | food sales are virtually
unchanged, growing less than one |
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| 1 | | percent yearly, the organic food industry grew at a rate of
| 2 | | 9.5% in 2011, and, for the first time, surpassed the $30 | 3 | | billion mark. Sales of
organic fruits and vegetables are up | 4 | | 11.8%, accounting for approximately 12%
of all U.S. fruit and | 5 | | vegetable sales. Organic dairy is growing at 9% per year and
| 6 | | comprises nearly 6% of the total U.S. dairy market. Trade | 7 | | industry data shows that over the long term organic
farming is | 8 | | more profitable and economically secure than conventional | 9 | | farming. Organic
farmers are prohibited from using GE seeds. | 10 | | Nonetheless, organic crops are routinely
threatened with | 11 | | contamination from neighboring fields of GE crops. The risk of
| 12 | | contamination can erode public confidence in organic products, | 13 | | significantly undermining
the job-creating, economy-boosting | 14 | | growth of the organic market. | 15 | | (12) Foods identified as non-GE
constitute the fastest | 16 | | growing market segment in agriculture, with annual sales | 17 | | increases in
2011 between 20% and 27%. However, only a small | 18 | | portion of the food industry participates in voluntary
labeling | 19 | | of foods claimed not to be the product of genetic engineering. | 20 | | There
are no consistent standards for such labeling or for | 21 | | enforcement of voluntary labels. Because of this,
voluntary | 22 | | labels are insufficient to provide consumers with adequate | 23 | | information on
whether or not the food they are purchasing was | 24 | | produced with genetic engineering, and in
some cases these | 25 | | labels may be misleading. | 26 | | (13) The cultivation of GE crops can have serious effects |
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| 1 | | on the environment. For
example, in 2012, 93% of all soy grown | 2 | | in the U.S. was engineered to be
herbicide resistant. In fact, | 3 | | the vast majority of GE crops are designed to withstand
| 4 | | herbicides, and they therefore promote indiscriminate | 5 | | herbicide use. As a result, GE crops
have caused 527 million | 6 | | pounds of additional herbicides to be applied to the nation's
| 7 | | farmland. These toxic herbicides damage the vitality and | 8 | | quality of our soil, contaminate
our drinking water, and pose | 9 | | health risks to consumers and farmworkers. Further, because
of | 10 | | the consequent massive increase in use of herbicides, | 11 | | herbicide-resistant weeds have
developed and flourished, | 12 | | infesting farm fields and roadsides, complicating weed control
| 13 | | for farmers, and causing farmers to resort to more and | 14 | | increasingly toxic herbicides. | 15 | | (14) The people of Illinois should have the choice to avoid | 16 | | purchasing foods
produced in ways that can lead to such | 17 | | environmental harm. | 18 | | Section 10. Purpose. This Act shall establish a | 19 | | consistent
and enforceable standard for labeling all foods | 20 | | produced using genetic engineering, and
thus provide citizens | 21 | | of this State with knowledge of how their food is produced. | 22 | | The purpose of this Act is to facilitate the exercise of | 23 | | the fundamental right of the people
of Illinois to be fully | 24 | | informed about whether the food they purchase and eat is
| 25 | | produced with genetic engineering so that they can choose for |
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| 1 | | themselves whether to
purchase and eat such foods. Identifying | 2 | | foods produced through genetic engineering will
help protect | 3 | | our State's agricultural economy and environment. This Act | 4 | | shall be liberally
construed to fulfill these purposes. | 5 | | Section 15. In this Act: | 6 | | "Agriculture" means the science, art, or practice of | 7 | | cultivating soil, producing crops, and raising
livestock or | 8 | | fish and, in varying degrees, the preparation and marketing of | 9 | | the resulting
products. | 10 | | "Cultivated commercially" means agricultural commodities | 11 | | grown or raised in the course of
business or trade and sold | 12 | | within the United States. | 13 | | "Department" means the Department of Public Health. | 14 | | "Enzyme" means a protein that catalyzes chemical reactions | 15 | | of other substances without itself being
destroyed or altered | 16 | | upon completion of the reactions. | 17 | | "Food" means any articles used to feed or nourish man or | 18 | | other animals, chewing gum, and articles
used for components, | 19 | | including food additives, of any such article. | 20 | | "Genetically engineered" means a process that results in a | 21 | | substance that is produced from an organism or organisms in | 22 | | which the genetic
material has been changed through the | 23 | | application of the following: | 24 | | (1) in vitro nucleic acid techniques, which include, | 25 | | but are not limited to, recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid |
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| 1 | | (DNA), direct injection of nucleic acid into
cells or | 2 | | organelles, encapsulation, gene deletion, and doubling; or
| 3 | | (2) methods of fusing cells beyond the taxonomic family | 4 | | that overcome natural
physiological reproductive or | 5 | | recombinant barriers, and that are not techniques
used in | 6 | | traditional breeding and selection, such as conjugation, | 7 | | transduction,
and hybridization. | 8 | | "Label" means a display of written, printed, or graphic | 9 | | matter upon or connected to the immediate
container or surface | 10 | | of any article. In order to meet the definition of "label", any | 11 | | word, statement, or other information appearing on the label | 12 | | shall appear on the outside container or wrapper, if any, of | 13 | | the bulk, wholesale, or retail
package of the article or be | 14 | | easily legible through the outside container or wrapper. | 15 | | "Labeling" means any written, printed, or graphic matter | 16 | | that is present on the label, accompanies
the food, or is | 17 | | displayed near the food, including that for the purpose of | 18 | | promoting its sale
or disposal. | 19 | | "Manufacturer" means the person or business that makes, | 20 | | processes, combines, or packages food
ingredients into a | 21 | | finished food product. | 22 | | "Medical food" means a food that is formulated to be | 23 | | consumed or administered enterally
under the supervision of a | 24 | | physician and which is intended for the specific dietary
| 25 | | management of a disease or condition for which distinctive | 26 | | nutritional requirements, based
on recognized scientific |
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| 1 | | principles, are established by medical evaluation. | 2 | | "Organism" means any biological entity capable of | 3 | | replication, reproduction, or transferring genetic
material. | 4 | | "Processed food" means any food other than a raw | 5 | | agricultural commodity, including any food
produced from a raw | 6 | | agricultural commodity that has been subject to processing such | 7 | | as
canning, smoking, pressing, cooking, freezing, dehydration, | 8 | | fermentation, or milling. | 9 | | "Processing aid" means the following: | 10 | | (a) a substance that is added to a food during the | 11 | | processing of the food but is
removed in some manner from | 12 | | the food before it is packaged in its final
form;
| 13 | | (b) a substance that is added to a food during | 14 | | processing, is converted into
constituents normally | 15 | | present in the food, and does not significantly
increase | 16 | | the amount of the constituents found in the food; or | 17 | | (c) a substance that is added to a food for its | 18 | | technical or functional effects in
the processing but is | 19 | | present in the finished food at insignificant levels and
| 20 | | does not have any technical or functional effect in that | 21 | | finished food.
| 22 | | "Raw agricultural commodity" means any plant, animal, or | 23 | | fungi grown or produced for human
food use purposes. | 24 | | Section 20. Labeling of genetically engineered foods. | 25 | | (a) Beginning on the effective date of this Act, any food |
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| 1 | | offered for retail sale in this State is
misbranded if it is | 2 | | entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering and | 3 | | that fact is not
disclosed as follows: | 4 | | (1) In the case of a raw agricultural commodity, on the | 5 | | package offered for
retail sale, with the words | 6 | | "Genetically Engineered" appearing clearly and
| 7 | | conspicuously on the label on the front of the package of | 8 | | the commodity
or, in the case of any such commodity that is | 9 | | not separately packaged or
labeled, on a clear and | 10 | | conspicuous label appearing on the retail store shelf
or | 11 | | bin in which the commodity is displayed for sale. | 12 | | (2) In the case of processed food containing some | 13 | | products of genetic
engineering, the manufacturer must | 14 | | label the product, in clear and
conspicuous language on the | 15 | | front or back of the package of such food, with
the words | 16 | | "Produced with Genetic Engineering" or "Partially Produced | 17 | | with
Genetic Engineering".
| 18 | | (b) This Act shall not be construed to require either the | 19 | | listing or identification of any
ingredient or ingredients that | 20 | | were genetically engineered, nor that the term "genetically
| 21 | | engineered" be placed immediately preceding any common name or | 22 | | primary product
descriptor of a food. | 23 | | (c) Until the effective date of this Act, any processed | 24 | | food that would be subject to this Section solely
because it | 25 | | includes one or more materials produced by genetic engineering | 26 | | is not
misbranded provided that the engineered materials in the |
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| 1 | | aggregate do not account for
more than nine-tenths of one | 2 | | percent of the total weight of the processed food.
| 3 | | (d) Subsection (a) of this Section does not apply to any of | 4 | | the following: | 5 | | (1) food consisting entirely of, or derived entirely | 6 | | from, an animal that has not
itself been genetically | 7 | | engineered, regardless of whether the animal has been
fed | 8 | | or injected with any food produced with genetic engineering | 9 | | or any drug
or vaccine that has been produced through means | 10 | | of genetic engineering; | 11 | | (2) a raw agricultural commodity or food that has been | 12 | | grown, raised,
produced, or derived without the knowing and | 13 | | intentional use of genetically
engineered seed or food; to | 14 | | be included within the exclusion under this
subsection (d), | 15 | | the person responsible for complying with this Section with | 16 | | respect to a raw agricultural commodity or food
must | 17 | | obtain, from whoever sold the raw agricultural commodity or | 18 | | food to
that person, a sworn statement that the raw | 19 | | agricultural commodity or food
(A) has not been knowingly | 20 | | or intentionally genetically engineered and (B)
has been | 21 | | segregated from, and has not been knowingly or | 22 | | intentionally
commingled with, foods that may have been | 23 | | genetically engineered at any
time; in providing the a | 24 | | sworn statement, a person may rely on a sworn
statement | 25 | | from his or her own supplier that contains such an | 26 | | affirmation; |
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| 1 | | (3) any processed food that would be subject to this | 2 | | Section solely because one
or more processing aids or | 3 | | enzymes were produced or derived with genetic
engineering;
| 4 | | (4) any alcoholic beverage that is subject to | 5 | | regulation under the Liquor Control Act of 1934; | 6 | | (5) food that has been lawfully certified to be | 7 | | labeled, marketed, and offered
for sale as organic pursuant | 8 | | to the federal Organic Foods Production Act
of 1990, 7 | 9 | | U.S.C. 6501, et seq., and the National Organic Program
| 10 | | regulations promulgated pursuant thereto by the United | 11 | | States Department of Agriculture;
| 12 | | (6) food that is not packaged for retail sale and that | 13 | | either (A) is a processed
food prepared and intended for | 14 | | immediate human consumption or (B) is
served, sold, or | 15 | | otherwise provided in any restaurant or other food service
| 16 | | establishment that is primarily engaged in the sale of food | 17 | | prepared and
intended for immediate human consumption; or | 18 | | (7) medical food. | 19 | | Section 25. Right of action for violations, damages, and | 20 | | attorneys' fees. | 21 | | (a) The Department, acting through the Attorney General, | 22 | | may bring an action in
a court of competent jurisdiction to | 23 | | enjoin any person violating this Act. | 24 | | (b) The Department may assess a civil penalty against any | 25 | | person violating this Act. |
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| 1 | | (c) Any citizen of this State acting in the public interest | 2 | | may bring an action to
enjoin a violation of this Act in any | 3 | | court of competent jurisdiction if the action is
commenced more | 4 | | than 60 days after the person has given notice of the alleged | 5 | | violation
to the Department, to the Attorney General, and to | 6 | | the alleged violator. | 7 | | (d) The court may award to a prevailing plaintiff | 8 | | reasonable costs and attorneys' fees
incurred in investigating | 9 | | and prosecuting an action to enforce this Act. | 10 | | Section 30. Enforcement and regulation. The Department | 11 | | shall adopt rules necessary to implement
this Act. | 12 | | Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are | 13 | | severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.".
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