article: 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.
summary: 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.