text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Truth in Tuna Labeling Act of 
  2003''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      Congress finds that:
              (1) Consumers have the right to know whether the tuna that 
          they purchase was caught using technologies that kill, harass, 
          adversely impact, or endanger dolphins, porpoises, and whales.
              (2) The provisions of the Dolphin Protection Consumer 
          Information Act that require ``dolphin safe'' labeling have 
          served as an incentive to reduce dolphin mortalities.
              (3) According to the Annual Report of the Marine Mammal 
          Commission and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, 
          dolphin mortality has decreased from more than 100,000 dolphin 
          kills each year to fewer than 2,000 kills each year since the 
          passage of the ``dolphin safe'' label requirements in 1990.
              (4) In 1997, Congress began to erode the ``dolphin safe'' 
          label, creating exceptions that permit purse seine netting in 
          the Eastern Tropical Pacific and other destructive fishing 
          practices to be used during tuna fishing. On December 31, 2002, 
          the Secretary of Commerce decided to permit tuna caught using 
          these destructive practices to be labeled ``dolphin safe'', a 
          decision that will blatantly mislead the American public. The 
          Secretary's decision will result in an estimated 20,000 to 
          40,000 dolphin deaths each year.
  
  SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE DOLPHIN PROTECTION CONSUMER INFORMATION ACT.
  
      The Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act (16 U.S.C. 1385) is 
  amended--
              (1) by striking subsections (d) through (h); and
              (2) by inserting the following:
      ``(d) Labeling Standard.--It is a violation of section 5 of the 
  Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) for any producer, importer, 
  exporter, distributor, or seller of any tuna product that is exported 
  from or offered for sale in the United States to include on the label 
  of that product the term `Dolphin Safe' or any other term or symbol 
  that claims or suggests that the tuna contained in the product was 
  harvested using a method of fishing that is not harmful to dolphins if 
  the tuna product contains tuna harvested--
              ``(1) on the high seas by a vessel engaged in driftnet 
          fishing;
              ``(2) outside the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean by a 
          vessel using purse seine nets--
                      ``(A) in a fishery in which the Secretary has 
                  determined that a regular and significant association 
                  occurs between dolphins and tuna (similar to the 
                  association between dolphins and tuna in the eastern 
                  tropical Pacific Ocean), unless such product is 
                  accompanied by a written statement, executed by the 
                  captain of the vessel and an observer participating in 
                  a national or international program acceptable to the 
                  Secretary, certifying that no purse seine net was 
                  intentionally deployed on dolphins or used to encircle 
                  dolphins and that no dolphins were intentionally chased 
                  or harassed during the particular voyage on which the 
                  tuna were caught and no dolphins were killed or 
                  seriously injured in the sets in which the tuna were 
                  caught; or
                      ``(B) in any other fishery (other than a fishery 
                  described in paragraph (3)) unless the product is 
                  accompanied by a written statement executed by the 
                  captain of the vessel certifying that no purse seine 
                  net was intentionally deployed on or used to encircle 
                  dolphins during the particular voyage on which the tuna 
                  was harvested;
              ``(3) by a vessel in a fishery other than one described in 
          paragraph (1), (2) or (4) that is identified by the Secretary 
          as having a regular and significant mortality or serious injury 
          of dolphins, unless such product is accompanied by a written 
          statement executed by the captain of the vessel and an observer 
          participating in a national or international program acceptable 
          to the Secretary that no dolphins were killed or seriously 
          injured in the sets or other gear deployments in which the tuna 
          were caught, provided that the Secretary determines that such 
          an observer statement is necessary; or
              ``(4) except as provided in subsection (e), in the eastern 
          tropical Pacific Ocean by a vessel using purse seine nets.
      ``(e) Special Requirements.--A tuna product that contains tuna 
  harvested in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean by a fishing vessel 
  using purse seine nets may include on the label of that product the 
  term `Dolphin Safe' or other term or symbol that claims or suggests 
  that the tuna contained in the product was harvested using a method of 
  fishing that is not harmful to dolphins if--
              ``(1) the vessel that harvested the tuna is of a type and 
          size that the Secretary has determined is not capable of 
          deploying its purse seine nets on dolphins or to encircle 
          dolphins; or
              ``(2) the tuna product is accompanied by a written 
          statement--
                      ``(A)(i) executed by the captain of the vessel 
                  which harvested the tuna certifying that no tuna were 
                  caught on the trip in which such tuna were harvested 
                  using a purse seine net intentionally deployed on 
                  dolphins or to encircle dolphins, that no dolphins were 
                  intentionally chased or harassed in connection with the 
                  trip, and that no dolphins were killed or seriously 
                  injured during the sets in which the tuna were caught; 
                  or
                      ``(ii) which states that an approved observer was 
                  on board the vessel during the entire trip in which 
                  such tuna were harvested and that purse seine nets were 
                  not intentionally deployed on dolphins or to encircle 
                  dolphins, that no dolphins were intentionally chased or 
                  harassed in connection with the trip, and that no 
                  dolphins were killed or seriously injured during the 
                  sets in which the tuna were caught and that is executed 
                  by--
                              ``(I) the Secretary;
                              ``(II) a representative of the Inter-
                          American Tropical Tuna Commission; or
                              ``(III) an authorized representative of a 
                          country that is a signatory to the Agreement on 
                          the International Dolphin Conservation Program, 
                          done at Washington May 21, 1998, whose observer 
                          program has been approved by the Inter-American 
                          Tropical Tuna Commission or the Secretary; and
                      ``(B) that is endorsed in writing by each exporter, 
                  importer, and processor of the tuna product.''.
  
  SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
  
      The amendments made by section 3 shall take effect on December 30, 
  2002.
target: Truth in Tuna Labeling Act of 2003 - Amends the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act to declare that a tuna product labeled "dolphin safe" violates the Federal Trade Commission Act unless it is accompanied by a certificate stating that no dolphins were intentionally chased or harassed during the particular voyage on which the tuna were caught using purse seine nets.Applies this mandate to tuna products harvested either outside or inside the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
feat_title: A bill to amend the labeling requirements of the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act, and for other purposes.