| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to a review under the Open Government |
| 3 | Sunset Review Act regarding food safety or food-borne |
| 4 | illness investigations; amending s. 500.148, F.S.; |
| 5 | reorganizing the exemption; removing the scheduled repeal |
| 6 | of the exemption; providing an effective date. |
| 7 |
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| 8 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Section 1. Section 500.148, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 11 | to read: |
| 12 | 500.148 Reports and dissemination of information; |
| 13 | confidentiality.-- |
| 14 | (1)(a) Information deemed confidential under 21 C.F.R. |
| 15 | part 20.61, part 20.62, or part 20.88, or 5 U.S.C. s. 552(b), |
| 16 | and which is provided to the department during a joint food |
| 17 | safety or food-borne illness investigation, as a requirement for |
| 18 | conducting a federal-state contract or partnership activity, or |
| 19 | for regulatory review, is confidential and exempt from s. |
| 20 | 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. |
| 21 | (b) Such confidential and exempt information may not be |
| 22 | disclosed except under a final determination by the appropriate |
| 23 | federal agency that the information is no longer entitled to |
| 24 | protection or pursuant to an order of the court. |
| 25 | (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit |
| 26 | the department from collecting, reporting, and illustrating the |
| 27 | results of these investigations. |
| 28 | (2) The department may: |
| 29 | (a) Publish from time to time reports summarizing all |
| 30 | judgments and court orders that have been rendered under this |
| 31 | chapter, including the nature of the charges and the disposition |
| 32 | thereof. |
| 33 | (b)(2) The department may also Disseminate any information |
| 34 | regarding food that it considers necessary in the interest of |
| 35 | public health and the protection of the consumer against fraud. |
| 36 | Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the |
| 37 | department from collecting, reporting, and illustrating the |
| 38 | results of these investigations. |
| 39 | (3) Information deemed confidential under 21 C.F.R. part |
| 40 | 20.61, part 20.62, or part 20.88, or 5 U.S.C. s. 552(b), and |
| 41 | which is provided to the department during a joint food safety |
| 42 | or food illness investigation, as a requirement for conducting a |
| 43 | federal-state contract or partnership activity, or for |
| 44 | regulatory review, is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) |
| 45 | and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. Such information |
| 46 | may not be disclosed except under a final determination by the |
| 47 | appropriate federal agencies that such records are no longer |
| 48 | entitled to protection, or pursuant to an order of the court. |
| 49 | This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act |
| 50 | of 1995 in accordance with s. 119.15, and shall stand repealed |
| 51 | on October 2, 2008, unless reviewed and saved from repeal |
| 52 | through reenactment by the Legislature. |
| 53 | (a)(4) Upon request of a food establishment, the |
| 54 | department may issue a report certifying that the requesting |
| 55 | food establishment currently complies with the sanitation and |
| 56 | permitting requirements of this chapter and the rules |
| 57 | promulgated thereunder. Such certification may be requested for |
| 58 | the purpose of exporting food to a foreign country. |
| 59 | (b) The department is authorized to recover the cost |
| 60 | associated with carrying out the provisions of this subsection, |
| 61 | the amount of which shall be set by rule. |
| 62 | Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2008. |