RULEMAKING ON LABELING OF IRRADIATED FOOD; CERTAIN PETITIONS.

SEC. 10809. RULEMAKING ON LABELING OF IRRADIATED FOOD; CERTAIN PETITIONS. The Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this section as the “Secretary”) shall publish a proposed rule and, with due consideration to public comment, a final rule to revise, as appropriate, the current regulation governing the labeling of foods that have been treated to reduce pest infestation or pathogens by treatment by irradiation using radioactive isotope, electronic beam, or x-ray. Pending promulgation of the final rule required by this subsection, any person may petition the Secretary for approval of labeling, which is not false or misleading in any material respect, of a food which has been treated by irradiation using radioactive isotope, electronic beam, or x-ray. The Secretary shall approve or deny such a petition within 180 days of receipt of the petition, or the petition shall be deemed denied, except to the extent additional agency review is mutually agreed upon by the Secretary and the petitioner. Any denial of a petition under this subsection shall constitute final agency action subject to judicial review by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Any labeling approved through the foregoing petition process shall be subject to the provisions of the final rule referred to in the first sentence of the subparagraph on the effective date of such final rule.