Sec. 1. 7 MRSA c. 101, sub-c. VII is enacted to read:

SUBCHAPTER VII

LABELING FOODS FREE OF GENETIC ENGINEERING

§530-A.__Voluntary labeling

1.__Labeling permitted; rules.__Beginning January 1, 2003, a label may be placed on any food, food product or food ingredient offered for sale in the State designating that food, food product or food ingredient as free of or made without recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid technology, genetic engineering or bioengineering.__The department shall adopt rules implementing this subsection.__Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A.

2.__Department verification.__The department may investigate a business operation that claims a food, food product or food ingredient sold in the State by the business operation is free of or made without recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid technology, genetic engineering or bioengineering for the purposes of verifying the claim.

3.__Misbranding.__If a manufacturer, distributor, processor, wholesaler or retailer falsely labels or advertises any food, food product or food ingredient offered for sale in the State as free of or made without recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid technology, genetic engineering or bioengineering, the food, food product or food ingredient is misbranded in violation of section 488.

Sec. 2. Rules. In adopting rules implementing the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 7, section 530-A, subsection 1, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources shall base its proposed rule on the United States Food and Drug Administration "Draft Guidance for Industry: Voluntary Labeling Indicating Whether Foods Have or Have Not Been Developed Using Bioengineering," set forth in the Federal Register on January 18, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 12, pages 4839-4842.

SUMMARY

This bill permits the use of a label on any food, food product or food ingredient that indicates that the product is free of or made without recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid