IBWA Testimony on Senate Bill 570

IBWA Testimony on Senate Bill 570

IBWA Testimony on Senate Bill 570

Massachusetts Joint Committee on Health Care

Wednesday July 9, 2003

Boston, Massachusetts

Chairman Moore, Chairman Koutoujian and members of the Joint Health Care Committee, my name is Troy Flanagan and I am the Director of Government Relations for the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) . I am here today to offer comments on Senate Bill 570.

While IBWA supports the bulk of the changes made to the Commonwealth s regulation of bottled water contained in SB 570, Section 2 of the bill does cause some concern. Specifically, changes made to Section 10D ½ of Chapter 94 of the General Laws would require bottled water to meet the Department of Environmental Protection s maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for public water supplies. Currently, bottled water regulations may not be any less stringent than federal and state public water supply regulations that are applicable to bottled water. There is no need for this change.

Bottled water is fully regulated as a food product by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act (FFDCA) and several sections of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The FDA has established limits for microbiological, physical, chemical, and radiological substances for both source water and finished bottled water products under the Standards of Quality.

IBWA requests this section of current regulation be left in tact, reading as follows:

570.008: Quality Standards for Bottled Water and Carbonated Non-alcoholic Beverages

(B) Finished Product

(1) The finished product shall conform to the standards of quality in 21 CFR § 165.110(b).

(2) Finished products, the quality of which is below that prescribed by any standard of quality in 21 CFR § 165.110(b) (i.e. substandard products), shall not be sold or distributed in any manner in Massachusetts.

For this reason, I would urge the committee to amend SB 570 accordingly. Thank you for your consideration.

M. Troy Flanagan

Director of Government Relations

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1 IBWA is the trade association representing all segments of the bottled water industry. Founded in 1958, IBWA member companies include U.S. and international bottlers, distributors and suppliers. IBWA works closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates bottled water as a packaged food product, and with state governments to set stringent standards for safe, high quality bottled water products. IBWA also has a Model Code that sets strict standards for bottled water. As a condition of membership, IBWA bottlers must submit to an annual, unannounced inspection for compliance with the Model Code by an independent third party.

2 The Hammer Provision of 1996, 21 USC § 349

3 21 CFR § 165