2008 Farm Bill amendment

110TH CONGRESS 1st Session	}	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SENATE	{	REPORT 110–
FOOD, CONSERVATION, AND ENERGY ACT OF 2008 _____________ , 2008.—Ordered to be printed _____________ , from the committee of conference, submitted the following
CONFERENCE REPORT
[To accompany H. R. 2419]
The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendment of the Senate to the bill (H. R. 2419), to provide for the continuation of agricultural programs through fiscal year 2012, and for other purposes, having met, after full and free conference, have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses as follows:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the amend-ment of the Senate and agree to the same with an amendment as follows:
In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the Senate amendment, insert the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Food, Con- servation, and Energy Act of 2008’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of this Act is
as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definition of Secretary.
TITLE I—COMMODITY PROGRAMS
Sec. 1001. Definitions.
Subtitle A—Direct Payments and Counter-Cyclical Payments
Sec. 1101. Base acres.
Sec. 1102. Payment yields.
Sec. 1103. Availability of direct payments.
Sec. 1104. Availability of counter-cyclical payments.
Sec. 1105. Average crop revenue election program.
Sec. 1106. Producer agreement required as condition of provision of payments.
Sec. 1107. Planting flexibility.

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SEC. 11002. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING.

Subtitle D of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638 et seq.) is amended—

(1) in section 281(2)(A)—

(A) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘and’’;

(B) in clause (vi), by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(vii) meat produced from goats;

‘‘(viii) chicken, in whole and in part;

‘‘(ix) ginseng;

‘‘(x) pecans; and

‘‘(xi) macadamia nuts.’’;

(2) in section 282—

(A) in subsection (a), by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and inserting the following:

‘‘(2) DESIGNATION OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN FOR BEEF, LAMB, PORK, CHICKEN, AND GOAT MEAT.—

‘‘(A) UNITED STATES COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.—A retailer of a covered commodity that is beef, lamb, pork, chicken, or goat meat may designate the covered commodity as exclusively having a United States country of origin only if the covered commodity is derived from an animal that was—

‘‘(i) exclusively born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States;

‘‘(ii) born and raised in Alaska or Hawaii and transported for a period of not more than 60 days through Canada to the United States and slaughtered in the United States; or

‘‘(iii) present in the United States on or before July 15, 2008, and once present in the United States, remained continuously in the United States.

‘‘(B) MULTIPLE COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN.—

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A retailer of a covered commodity that is beef, lamb, pork, chicken, or goat meat that is derived from an animal that is—

‘‘(I) not exclusively born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States,

‘‘(II) born, raised, or slaughtered in the United States, and

‘‘(III) not imported into the United States for immediate slaughter, may designate the country of origin of such covered commodity as all of the countries in which the animal may have been born, raised, or slaughtered.

‘‘(ii) RELATION TO GENERAL REQUIREMENT.—Nothing in this subparagraph alters the mandatory requirement to inform consumers of the country of origin of covered commodities under paragraph (1).

‘‘(C)IMPORTED FOR IMMEDIATE SLAUGHTER.—A retailer of a covered commodity that is beef, lamb, pork, chicken, or goat meat that is derived from an animal that is imported into the United States for immediate slaughter shall designate the origin of such covered commodity as—

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‘‘(i) the country from which the animal was imported; and ‘‘(ii) the United States.

‘‘(D) FOREIGN COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.—A retailer of a covered commodity that is beef, lamb, pork, chicken, or goat meat that is derived from an animal that is not born, raised, or slaughtered in the United States shall designate a country other than the United States as the country of origin of such commodity.

‘‘(E) GROUND BEEF, PORK, LAMB, CHICKEN, AND GOAT.—The notice of country of origin for ground beef, ground pork, ground lamb, ground chicken, or ground goat shall include—

‘‘(i) a list of all countries of origin of such ground beef, ground pork, ground lamb, ground chicken, or ground goat; or

‘‘(ii) a list of all reasonably possible countries of origin of such ground beef, ground pork, ground lamb, ground chicken, or ground goat.

‘‘(3) DESIGNATION OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN FOR FISH.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A retailer of a covered commodity that is farm-raised fish or wild fish may designate the covered commodity as having a United States country of origin only if the covered commodity—

‘‘(i) in the case of farm-raised fish, is hatched, raised, harvested, and processed in the United States; and

‘‘(ii) in the case of wild fish, is—

‘‘(I) harvested in the United States, a territory of the United States, or a State, or by a vessel that is documented under chapter 121 of title 46, United States Code, or registered in the United States; and

‘‘(II) processed in the United States, a territory of the United States, or a State, including the waters thereof, or aboard a vessel that is documented under chapter 121 of title 46, United States Code, or registered in the United States.

‘‘(B) DESIGNATION OF WILD FISH AND FARM-RAISED FISH.—The notice of country of origin for wild fish and farm-raised fish shall distinguish between wild fish and farm-raised fish.

‘‘(4) DESIGNATION OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN FOR PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, GINSENG, PEANUTS, PECANS, AND MACADAMIA NUTS.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A retailer of a covered commodity that is a perishable agricultural commodity, ginseng, peanut, pecan, or macadamia nut may designate the covered commodity as having a United States country of origin only if the covered commodity is exclusively produced in the United States.

‘‘(B) STATE, REGION, LOCALITY OF THE UNITED STATES.—With respect to a covered commodity that is a perishable agricultural commodity, ginseng, peanut, pecan, or macadamia nut produced exclusively in the United States,

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designation by a retailer of the State, region, or locality of the United States where such commodity was produced shall be sufficient to identify the United States as the country of origin.’’; and

(B) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the following:

‘‘(d) AUDIT VERIFICATION SYSTEM.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may conduct an audit of any person that prepares, stores, handles, or distributes a covered commodity for retail sale to verify compliance with this subtitle (including the regulations promulgated under section 284(b)).

‘‘(2) RECORD REQUIREMENTS.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A person subject to an audit under paragraph (1) shall provide the Secretary with verification of the country of origin of covered commodities. Records maintained in the course of the normal conduct of the business of such person, including animal health papers, import or customs documents, or producer affidavits, may serve as such verification.

‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON REQUIREMENT OF ADDITIONAL RECORDS.—The Secretary may not require a person that prepares, stores, handles, or distributes a covered commodity to maintain a record of the country of origin of a covered commodity other than those maintained in the course of the normal conduct of the business of such person.’’; and

(3) in section 283—

(A) by striking subsections (a) and (c);

(B) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (a);

(C) in subsection (a) (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘retailer’’ and inserting ‘‘retailer or person engaged in the business of supplying a covered commodity to a retailer’’; and

(D) by adding at the end the following new subsection:

‘‘(b) FINES.—If, on completion of the 30-day period described in subsection (a)(2), the Secretary determines that the retailer or person engaged in the business of supplying a covered commodity to a retailer has—

‘‘(1) not made a good faith effort to comply with section 282, and

‘‘(2) continues to willfully violate section 282 with respect to the violation about which the retailer or person received notification under subsection (a)(1),

after providing notice and an opportunity for a hearing before the Secretary with respect to the violation, the Secretary may fine the retailer or person in an amount of not more than $1,000 for each violation.’’.