HB 1061, Engrossed 1 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to public records; amending s. 500.148,
3	F.S.; providing an exemption from public records
4	requirements for certain federal information that is
5	otherwise confidential under federal law and that is
6	provided to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
7	Services for purposes of food safety investigations,
8	federal-state contracts and partnership activities, and
9	regulatory reviews; prohibiting the disclosure of such
10	information unless a federal agency has found that the
11	information is no longer entitled to protection or unless
12	ordered by a court; providing for future legislative
13	review and repeal; providing a finding of public
14	necessity; providing an effective date.
15
16	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18	Section 1. Section 500.148, Florida Statutes, is amended
19	to read:
20	500.148 Reports and dissemination of information;
21	confidentiality.--
22	(1) The department may publish from time to time reports
23	summarizing all judgments and court orders that have been
24	rendered under this chapter, including the nature of the charges
25	and the disposition thereof.
26	(2) The department may also disseminate any information
27	regarding food that it considers necessary in the interest of
28	public health and the protection of the consumer against fraud.
29	Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the
30	department from collecting, reporting, and illustrating the
31	results of these investigations.
32	(3) Information deemed confidential under 21 C.F.R. part
33	20.61, part 20.62, or part 20.88, or U.S.C. s. 552(b), and which
34	is provided to the department during a joint food safety or food
35	illness investigation, as a requirement for conducting a
36	federal-state contract or partnership activity, or for
37	regulatory review, is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1)
38	and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. Such
39	information may not be disclosed except under a final
40	determination by the appropriate federal agencies that such
41	records are no longer entitled to protection, or pursuant to an
42	order of the court. This section is subject to the Open
43	Government Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s.
44	119.15, and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2008, unless
45	reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the
46	Legislature.
47	(4)(3)Upon request of a food establishment, the
48	department may issue a report certifying that the requesting
49	food establishment currently complies with the sanitation and
50	permitting requirements of this chapter and the rules
51	promulgated thereunder. Such certification may be requested for
52	the purpose of exporting food to a foreign country. The
53	department is authorized to recover the cost associated with
54	carrying out the provisions of this subsection, the amount of
55	which shall be set by rule.
56	Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
57	necessity that information concerning investigations of food
58	safety or food illness which is otherwise confidential under
59	federal law remain confidential and exempt when shared with the
60	Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. It is
61	essential that the department have access to such information
62	provided by federal and other state agencies in order to conduct
63	investigations and carry out contracts and partnership
64	agreements. The Legislature further finds that federal agencies
65	are reluctant to seek the department’s review on important
66	regulatory matters if information that is confidential under
67	federal law would be subject to disclosure. Therefore, the
68	Legislature finds that the harm caused by the release of such
69	information substantially outweighs any minimal public benefit
70	derived from disclosure of federal information that is otherwise
71	confidential.
72	Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
73