On March 20, after lawmakers return from a constituent work week, the Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Committee will consider country-of-origin labeling requirements for restaurants and grocery store delis.
HB66 by Rep. Chip Brown, R-Mobile, includes revisions suggested by the Alabama Retail Association and other restaurant and retail groups. Similar legislation, SB90 by Sens. David Sessions, R-Grand Bay, and Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, also awaits consideration by that committee.
“This bill is about the public’s right to know about where seafood comes from and protecting Alabama jobs,” said Brown, adding he “went out of the way to work with the hospitality industry” on certain provisions of the legislation.
HB66 gives businesses the option of labeling fish or shrimp as imported, rather than as being from a specific country. The bill also requires that fish and shrimp be labeled as farm-raised or wild fish. All provisions related to advertising fish and shrimp were removed from the bill.
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