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REFERENCE TITLE: nongenetically engineered food; labeling |
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State of Arizona Senate Fifty-first Legislature Second Regular Session 2014
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SB 1275 |
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Introduced by Senators Ableser, Ward; Representative Borrelli: Senator Burges; Representative Boyer
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AN ACT
Amending title 36, chapter 8, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding article 2; relating to nongenetically engineered food.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 36, chapter 8, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding article 2, to read:
ARTICLE 2. NONGENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOOD
36-921. Definitions
In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Department" means the department of health services.
2. "Genetically engineered" means any food that is produced from an organism or organisms in which the genetic material has been changed through the application of either:
(a) In vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid techniques and the direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles. In vitro nucleic acid techniques include recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid or ribonucleic acid techniques that use vector systems and techniques involving the direct introduction into the organisms of hereditary material prepared outside the organisms, such as microinjection, macroinjection, chemoporation, electroporation, microencapsulation and liposome fusion.
(b) The fusion of cells, including protoplast fusion, or hybridization techniques that overcome natural physiological, reproductive or recombination barriers and in which the donor cells or protoplasts do not fall within the same taxonomic family, in a way that does not occur by natural multiplication or natural recombination.
3. "organism" means any biological entity capable of replication, reproduction or transferring genetic material.
4. "Processed food" means any food other than a raw agricultural commodity, including any food produced from a raw agricultural commodity that has been subject to processing such as canning, smoking, pressing, cooking, freezing, dehydration, fermentation or milling.
5. "Raw agricultural commodity" has the same meaning as defined by 21 United States Code section 321.
36-922. Voluntary labeling program; nongenetically engineered food; fees; logo; rules
A. The department shall establish a voluntary program allowing food producers to display a logo on the packaging of food products that are sold in this state that identifies the product as verified to be produced without genetically engineered organisms.
B. The department shall design and trademark a logo for the program. To use the logo, a company must submit a license agreement verifying the company's eligibility and agreeing to comply with the logo use guidelines developed by the department.
C. The department shall adopt rules that:
1. Identify the guidelines and testing procedures that the program will rely on and accept for verification of a product as being produced without genetically engineered organisms. A testing procedure may not be approved by the department unless it is consistent with sampling and testing principles recommended by internationally recognized standards organizations and the procedure does not rely on testing processed food in which no deoxyribonucleic acid is detectable and is consistent with the world health organization's international food standards commission's recommendations.
2. Establish fees for the program.
3. Provide the department with the oversight necessary to regulate the program.
36-923. Qualifying food products
The following types of food products may display the logo that verifies the product as being produced without genetically engineered organisms:
1. Food consisting entirely of, or derived entirely from, an animal that has not itself been genetically engineered, regardless of whether the animal has been fed or injected with any food produced with genetic engineering or any drug that has been produced through means of genetic engineering.
2. A raw agricultural commodity or food that has been grown, raised, produced or derived without the knowing and intentional use of genetically engineered seed or food. To qualify under this paragraph, the person supplying a raw agricultural commodity or food must provide a sworn statement that the raw agricultural commodity or food:
(a) Has not been knowingly or intentionally produced through genetic engineering.
(b) Has been segregated from, and has not been knowingly or intentionally commingled with, food that may have been genetically engineered at any time. In providing this sworn statement, a person may rely on a sworn statement from the person's own supplier that contains this affirmation.
3. Any processed food that includes one or more materials produced by genetic engineering, provided that the engineered materials in the aggregate do not account for more than nine-tenths of one per cent of the total weight of the processed food.
4. Food that an independent organization has determined has not been knowingly and intentionally produced from or commingled with genetically engineered seed or genetically engineered food, provided that such a determination has been made pursuant to a sampling and testing procedure approved for this purpose consistent with the rules adopted by the department.
36-924. Display of logo on qualifying food products
The logo verifying a product as being produced without genetically engineered organisms may be displayed as follows:
1. For a raw agricultural commodity, on the package offered for retail sale, or in the case of such a commodity that is not separately packaged or labeled, on a label appearing on the retail store shelf or bin where the commodity is displayed for sale.
2. For any processed food, on the front of the package of the food produced by a manufacturer.
3. For any seed or seed stock, on the seed or seed stock container, the sales receipt or any other reference to identification, ownership or possession.
36-925. Program termination
The program established by this article ends on July 1, 2024 pursuant to section 41-3102.