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69th Legislature 2025 Drafter: Rebecca Brown, **** LC 1430
1 **** BILL NO. ****
2 INTRODUCED BY ****
3
4 A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT ***; AMENDING SECTIONS 50-31-108 AND 80-1-102, MCA.”
5
6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
7
8 NEW SECTION. Section 1. Panel on food safety. (1) There is a panel on food safety.
9 (2) The panel consists of three members appointed by the governor. The members must have
10 scientific expertise in:
11 (a) chemical risk assessment and safety assessment of food additives and flavoring substances;
12 (b) toxicology;
13 (c) toxicity testing;
14 (d) toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics of substances;
15 (e) chemistry;
16 (f) exposure assessment and consumption surveys; or
17 (g) food technology.
18 (3) Panel members shall serve staggered X-year terms. The terms of panel members run with the
19 position and, if a vacancy occurs, the governor shall appoint a person to fill the unexpired portion of the term in
20 the same manner as in subsection (2).
21 (4) The panel shall meet quarterly.
22 (5) Panel members shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed as provided in 2-18-
23 501 through 2-18-503.
24 (6) The panel shall:
25 (a) consider and study the cumulative effect of food additives and food colors in the diet, as well as
26 any chemically or pharmacologically related substances in the diet; and
27 (b) advise and make recommendations to the department of agriculture on limiting the availability
28 of food containing a food additive or a food color determined to have a negative toxic effect.
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 Unofficial Draft Copy
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69th Legislature 2025 Drafter: Rebecca Brown, **** LC 1430
1 (7) The panel is attached to the department of agriculture for administrative purposes only as
2 provided in 2-15-121.
3
4 Section 2. Section 50-31-108, MCA, is amended to read:
5 "50-31-108. Regulations concerning additives. (1) The department, upon on its own motion or
6 upon on the petition of any interested party requesting that a rule be established, whenever public health or
7 other considerations in the state require, is authorized to adopt, amend, or repeal rules, whether or not in
8 accordance with regulations promulgated under the federal act,:
9 (a) prescribing tolerances for any added poisonous or deleterious substances for food additives;,
10 (b) for pesticide chemicals in or on raw agricultural commodities,; or
11 (c) for color additives, including but not limited to zero tolerances and exemptions from tolerances
12 in the case of pesticide chemicals in or on raw agricultural commodities,; and
13 (d) prescribing the conditions under which a food additive or a color additive may be safely used
14 and exemptions when the food additive or color additive is to be used solely for investigational or experimental
15 purposes.; and
16 (d) authorizing the department of agriculture to limit the availability of food containing a food additive or
17 food color identified by the panel on food safety in [section 1] as having a negative toxic effect based on a
18 cumulative effects analysis of food additives and food colors conducted pursuant to [section 1].
19 (2) A petitioner or the panel on food safety shall establish by data submitted to the department that
20 a necessity exists for the rule, and that its effect will not be detrimental to the public health. If the data furnished
21 by the petitioner or the panel on food safety is not sufficient to allow the department to determine whether the
22 regulation should be promulgated, the department may require additional data to be submitted and
23 (a) failure to comply with the department's request is sufficient grounds to deny the petitioner's or
24 the panel's request.
25 (3) In adopting, amending, or repealing rules relating to the substances, the department shall
26 consider among other relevant factors the following, which the petitioner, if any, or the panel on food safety
27 shall furnish:
28 (a) the name and all pertinent information concerning the substance, including, when available:
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1 (i) its chemical identity and composition;
2 (ii) a statement of the conditions of the proposed use, including directions, recommendations, and
3 suggestions and including specimens of proposed labeling; and
4 (iii) all relevant data bearing on the physical or other technical effect and the quantity required to
5 produce the effect;
6 (b) the probable composition of or other relevant exposure from the article and of any substance
7 formed in or on a food, drug, or cosmetic resulting from the use of the substance;
8 (c) the probable consumption of the substance in the diet of humans and animals, taking into
9 account any chemically or pharmacologically related substance in the diet;
10 (d) safety factors that, in the opinion of experts qualified by scientific training and experience to
11 evaluate the safety of the substances for the use or uses for which they the substances are proposed to be
12 used, are generally recognized as appropriate for the use of animal experimentation data;
13 (e) the availability of any needed practicable methods of analysis for determining the identity and
14 quantity of:
15 (i) the substance in or on an article;
16 (ii) any substance formed in or on the article because of the use of the substance; and
17 (iii) the pure substance and all intermediates and impurities; and
18 (f) facts supporting a contention that the proposed use of the substance will serve a useful
19 purpose.
20 (4) The department may not establish rules related to food additives under this section for
21 homemade food or a homemade food product sold pursuant to Title 50, chapter 49, part 2."
22
23 Section 3. Section 80-1-102, MCA, is amended to read:
24 "80-1-102. Duties of department. The department shall:
25 (1) encourage and promote the interests of agriculture, including horticulture and apiculture, and
26 all other allied industries;
27 (2) collect and publish statistics relating to the production and marketing of crops and other
28 agricultural products so far as the information may be of value to the agricultural and allied interests of the
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1 state;
2 (3) assist, encourage, and promote the organization of farmers' institutes, horticultural and
3 agricultural societies, the holding of fairs, livestock shows, or other exhibits of the products of agriculture;
4 (4) adopt standards for open and closed receptacles for farm products and standards for the grade
5 and other classification of farm products;
6 (5) cooperate with producers and consumers in devising and maintaining economical and efficient
7 systems of distribution, and aid in the reduction of waste and expense incidental to marketing;
8 (6) have the authority to maintain a market news service, including information as to crops, freight
9 rates, commission rates, and other matters as may be of service to producers and consumers, and act as a
10 clearinghouse for information of value to producers and consumers;
11 (7) gather and diffuse information concerning the supply, demand, prevailing prices, and
12 commercial movement of farm products;
13 (8) investigate the practices and methods of factors, commission merchants, and others who
14 receive, solicit, buy, sell, handle on commission or otherwise, or deal in grain, vegetables, or other farm
15 products, so that distribution of the commodities is accomplished efficiently, economically, and without
16 hardship, waste, or fraud;
17 (9) cooperate with Montana state university-Bozeman, the agricultural experiment station, and the
18 federal government for the betterment of the agricultural industries of the state, the improvement of rural life,
19 and promotion of equality of opportunity for the farmers of the state;
20 (10) take and hold in the name of the state of Montana property, real and personal, acquired by
21 gifts, subscriptions, donations, and bequests;
22 (11) sell and dispose of personal property owned by it the department in a manner the department
23 may provide, when in the judgment of the department the sale or disposal best promotes the purposes for
24 which the department is established;
25 (12) contract in respect to any matter within the scope of its authority;
26 (13) enforce, with the cooperation and coordination of the United States food and drug
27 administration, rules designed to limit the availability of food containing a food additive or a food color identified
28 by the panel on food safety as having a negative toxic effect based on a cumulative effects analysis of food
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1 additives and food colors conducted pursuant to [section 1]; and
2 (13)(14)enforce this title and all other laws for the protection and regulation of agriculture."
3
4 NEW SECTION. Section 4. Transition. (1) The three-member panel on food safety, established in
5 [section 1] must become active (??) on [the effective date of this section].
6 (2) Within 60 days of [the effective date of this section], the governor shall appoint three panel
7 members who fulfill the requirements of [section 1] and according to the following schedule:
8 (a) one member who shall serve a term that ends on the first day of January 2026 and until the
9 member's successor is appointed;
10 (b) one member who shall serve a term that ends on the first day of January 2027 and until the
11 member's successor is appointed; and
12 (c) one member who shall serve a term that ends on the first day of January 2028 and until the
13 member's successor is appointed.
14 (3) After the expiration of a term provided for in subsection (2), the governor shall appoint a person to
15 serve a full X-year term as provided in [section 1]. A member who previously served an abbreviated term may
16 be reappointed for a full X-year term.
17
18 - END -
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