NINETEENTH NORTHERN MARIANAS COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATURE FOURTH REGLAR SESSION, 16 S.B. NO. 19-118 A BILL FOR AN ACT To amend certain sections of the Pure Food and Drug Control to include lime (afok, bweesch); and for other purposes. BE ENACTED BY THE NINETEENTH NORTHERN MARIANAS COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATURE: Section 1. Findings and Purpose. The Commonwealth Legislature finds that the 2 ingredients used in lime (a/ok or bweesch) for chewing betelnut has changed over time. 3 In the past, afok or bweesch was made from coral obtained from the reefs in the coastal 4 waters, however, the inception of Public Law 3-47 gave the Coastal Resource Management the authority to oversee and protect all coastal resources including coral As 6 a result, the harvesting of corals to manufacture and produce afok or bweesch for personal 7 and commercial use is restricted. 8 The Commonwealth Legislature recognizes that the prevalence of oral cancer in 9 the CNNfI has increased substantially. Although a/ok or bweesch may not have a direct lo link to oral cancer or other deadly diseases, the Commonwealth Legislature finds that 11 there is a great need to regulate any establishment or activity involving the manufacture, 12 preparation, preservation, packaging, storing, or sale of a/ok or bweesch. 13 Therefore, the purpose of this legislation is to regulate the manufacturing of afok 14 or bweesch by including a/ok or bweesch into certain sections of the Pure Food and Drug 1 Control. 16 Section 2. Amendment. 3 CMC 2122 is amended to read: 17 " 2122. Sanitary Permits. 18 It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or open the following business 19 without a valid and current sanitary permit for such establishment or activity: (a) Funeral establishments, crematoriums and cemeteries; 21 (b) Any establishment or activity involving food or drink service, temporary food 22 service, food retail, wholesale and transportation operations, pushcarts, caterers, or motor
vehicle food vendors; 2 (c) Food manufacturing, processmg, packaging, importation, distribution, and 3 warehousing facilities; 4 (d) Barber shops and beauty parlors; (e) Ice, water, and other beverage bottling plants and distributors thereof; 6 (f) Tattoo and/or body piercing shops; 7 (g) Massage parlors, bathing houses, spas and gymnasiums; 8 (h) Health clinics and convalescent homes; 9 (i) Schools and other child-care facilities; (j) Penal institutions~ 11 (k) Hotels, motels, and other room accommodations; 12 (1) Vector control and sanitation ofaircraft, ships and commercial premises; 13 (m) Swimming pools and water parks:-; and 14 (n) Any establishment or activity involving the manufacture, preparation, 1 preservation, packaging, storing, or sale of afok or bweesch." 16 Such permit shall be displayed at all times in a conspicuous place in the premises 17 as designated by the Secretary. Only persons who comply with the pertinent provisions 18 of this Act and the regulations promulgated there under shall be entitled to receive and 19 retain such permit. Permit issuance and approval by the Secretary does not relieve the applicant from the obligation and responsibility of obtaining all necessary and required 21 CNMI and/or Federal government permits." 22 Section 3. Global Amendment. 23 (a) Any reference to "Department" or "the Department of Public Health" under 24 Title 3, Division 2, Chapter 7 is hereby amended to read "Bureau" or "the Bureau of Environmental Health. 26 (b) Any reference to "Secretary" under Title 3, Division 2, Chapter 7 is hereby 27 amended to read "Director" of the Bureau of Environmental Health. 28 Section 4. Amendment. 3 CMC Section 2701 is hereby amended by adding new 29 sections (a) and (b) and renumbering the subsequent sections: Page 2
" 2701. Definitions. 2 Ca) The term afok is the Chamorro term for the lime produced by burning 3 limestone, coral, or seashells, and transformed into powder form or the lime in powder 4 form is mixed with water both of which are manufactured, used or sold as betelnut 6 additive." (b) The term bweesch is the Carolinian term synonymous with the Chamorro term 7 a{ok. 8 (a ) The term adulterated for the purposes of this chapter shall have the following 9 meanmgs: 11 (I) If a food, afok or bweesch bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render it injurious to health; unless the substance 12 is not an added substance, but rather a naturally occurring substance the quantity 13 of which does not ordinarily render it injurious to health; or 14 (2) If a food, afok or bweesch, drug, cosmetic, or device consists in whole 1 16 or in part of any filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance, or in the case of food, if it is otherwise unfit for food; or 17 (3) If a food, a{ok or bweesch, drug, cosmetic, or device has been 18 prepared, packed, or held under unsanitary conditions whereby it may have 19 become contaminated with filth, or whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health; or 21 (4) If a food is in whole or in part, the product of a diseased animal or of 22 an animal which has died otherwise than by slaughter at a facility licensed by the 23 CNML 24 (d) [except for the renumbering, the entire subsequent subsections are unchanged]." 26 Section. Amendment. 3 CMC Section 2703 is hereby amended to read as 27 follows: 28 " 2703. Prohibited label or advertisement where promotion for sale is made. 29 (a) No person shall sell any food, afok or bweesch, drug, cosmetic or device: Page 3
(1) That is not represented by label; or 2 (2) That the person advertises to the general public as a treatment, 3 preventative or cure for any of the diseases, disorders or abnormal physical states 4 listed in Schedule A. 6 preventative or cure for any of the diseases, disorders or abnormal physical states 7 in a language other than English, ChamoITo or Carolinian unless accompanied by 8 an accurate and full English translation." 9 Section 6. Amendment. 3 CMC Section 2711 is hereby amended to read as follows: 11 " 2711. Prohibited sales of food. 12 (a) No person shall sell an article of food, a{ok or bweesch for human 13 consumption unless as defined by 3 CMC 2701(a) and that: 14 (1) Has in or on it any poisonous or harmful substance; 1 (2) Is unfit for human consumption; (3) That the person advertises to the general public as a treatment, 16 (3) Consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, disgusting, rotten, 17 decomposed or diseased animal or vegetable substance; 18 (4) Is adulterated; 6f 19 () Was manufactured, prepared, preserved, packaged, distributed, or stored under unsanitary conditions.,.; or 21 (6) Contains wholly or in part the flesh of cats or dogs." 22 Section 7. Amendment. 3 CMC Section 2712 is hereby amended to read as 23 follows: 24 " 2712. Deception regarding food. No person shall label, package, treat, process, distribute, sell or advertise any 26 food, a{ok or bweesch in a manner that is false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to 27 create an extraneous impression regarding its character, value, quantity, composition, 28 merit or safety." 29 Section 8. Amendment. 3 CMC Section 2713 is hereby amended to read as Page 4
SENATE BllL NO. 19-118 follows: 2 " 2713. Food labeled or packaged in contravention of regulations. 3 An article of food, afok or bweesch that is not labeled or packaged as required by, 4 or is labeled or packaged contrary to, the regulations or as provided in this Act shall be deemed to be labeled or packaged contrary to subsection (1) Section 2703(a)(1). 6 Provided that the afok or bweesh label shall indicate the place of manufacture, name of 7 manufacturer, and ingredients." 8 Section 9. Amendment. 3 CMC Section 2714 is hereby amended to read as 9 follows: 1 " 2714. Importation of food. 11 (a) Where a standard for a food, afok or bweesch has been prescribed, no person 12 shall: 13 (1) Import into the Commonwealth, or 14 (2) Send, conveyor receive for conveyance within the Commonwealth, or (3) Have in possession for the purpose of sending or conveying within the 16 Commonwealth, any article that is intended for sale and that is likely to be 17 mistaken for the food for which the regulations prescribe a standard unless that 18 article complies with the prescribed standard. 19 (b) Not applicable to carriers. Subsections (a)(2) and (a)(3) of this section do not apply to an operator of a 21 conveyance that is used to carry an article or to a carrier of an article whose sole concern, 22 in respect of the article, is the conveyance of the article unless the operator or carrier 23 could, with reasonable diligence, have ascertained that the conveying or receiving for 24 conveyance of the article or the possession of the article for the purpose of conveyance would be in contravention of subsection (a) of this section." 26 Section. Amendment. 3 CMC Section 2717 is hereby amended to read as 27 follows: 28 " 2717. Unsanitary manufacture of food. 29 No person shall manufacture, prepare, preserve, package or store for sale any Page
food, afok or bweesch, under unsanitary conditions." 2 Section 11. Amendment. 3 CMC Section 277 is hereby amended to read as 3 follows: 4 " 277. Definition of "article to which this Act or the regulations apply". (a) In 3 CMC Section 2771 ( c), "article to which this Act or the regulations apply" 6 includes; 7 (1) Any food, afok or bweesch, drug, cosmetic, or device; 8 (2) Anything used for the manufacture, preparation, preservation, 9 packaging or storing thereof; and 11 Section 12. Amendment. 3 CMC Section 2798 is hereby amended to read as 12 follows: 13 " 2798. Where accused had adulterating substances. 14 Where a person is prosecuted under this article for having manufactured an 1 adulterated food, afok or bweesch, or drug for sale, and it is established that the person 16 had in his or her possession or on his or her premises any substance the addition of which 17 to that food, afok or bweesch, or chug has been declared by regulation to cause the 18 adulteration of the food, afok or bweesch, or chug, the onus of proving that the food, afok 19 or bweesch, or drug was not adulterated by the addition of that substance lies on the accused." (3) Any labeling or advertising material." 21 Section 13. Amendment. 3 CMC is hereby amended by adding a new Section 22 2799 to read as follows: 23 " 2799. Penalties. 24 (a) Any person found guilty of having manufactured an adulterated afok or bweesch which may cause injury to the health of the user shall be convicted of a 26 misdemeanor and a fine of not more than $2,000 or both; 27 (b) Any person found not in compliance with 3 CMC Section 2703(a) shall be 28 fined $1,000 for the first offense; $2,000 for the second offense; and for third offense a 29 fine of $4,000 and revocation of license to distribute afok or bweesh; and Page 6
1 (c) Any person found guilty of selling lime as betelnut additive that does not meet 2 the definition of afok shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisonment of not more 3 than six months, or both. 4 (d) Any funds collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in a special account, separate from the general funds, and shall not be subject to fiscal year limitation, 6 to expended without legislative appropriation under the expenditure authority of the 7 Director of the Bureau of Environment Health to be used for education and enforcement 8 of the a/ok or bweesch law as provided in this Act and promulgated regulations. " 9 Section 14. Regulations. The Director of Bureau of Environmental Health shall promulgate necessary regulations consistent with the intent of this Act with respect to 11 a/ok or bweesch. 12 Section 1. Severability. If any provision of this Act or the application of any 13 such provision to any person or circumstance should be held invalid by a court of 14 competent julisdiction, the remainder of this Act or the application of its provisions to 16 thereby. persons or circumstances other than those to which it is held invalid shall not be affected 17 Section 16. Savings Clause. This Act and any repealer contained herein shall 18 not be constmed as affecting any existing right acquired under contract or acquired under 19 statutes repealed or under any mle, regulation or order adopted under the statutes. Repealers contained in this Act shall not affect any proceeding instituted under or 21 pursuant to prior law. The enactment of this Act shall not have the effect of terminating, 22 or in any way modifying, any liability, civil or criminal, which shall already be in 23 existence at the date this Act becomes effective. 24 Section 17. Effective Date. This Act shall take effect upon its approval by tl1e Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval. Prefiled: Date: 1/16 Introduced By: Senator Teresita A. Santos Page 7
Reviewed for legal sufficiency by: S Page 8