Alan: Following is the text of the story recounting a recent
General Accounting Office study citing the inability of ex-
isting US government agencies to guarantee the safety of
imported foodstuffs. The news report seems to suggest that
the US Department of Agriculture has responsibility for the
inspection of imported meats and poultry, with the inspection
of other imported foodstuffs delegated to the Food and Drug
Administration. Apparently, the FDA lacks the legal and regu-
latory muscle accorded to the USDA, especially, with regard to
certification of international food processors and growers.
Emendations are welcome.
"Report: Government unable to ensure safety of imported food
May 11, 1998
WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than one-third of all fresh fruit
and 12 percent of vegetables consumed in America now come
from overseas. But a study release Monday by Congress' in-
vestigative agency said the federal government is unable
to ensure that imported foods are safe.
The findings by the General Accounting Office could boost
President Clinton's efforts to strengthen the Food and Drug
Administration's authority to require that other countries
adopt safe practices for fruit, vegetables, fish and processed
foods.
If Congress passed pending legislation giving FDA that authority --
which the Agriculture Department already has for imported meat
and poultry -- it would "provide greater assurance that the
imported foods it is responsible for are safe," the report said.
The study did not conclude that imported foods are more
dangerous than those produced domestically, but imports grew
more than 50 percent since 1990 to reach some $33 billion in
1996.
There have been some high-profile incidents of illness from
imported foods, including Guatemalan raspberries, Mexican
cantaloupes and alfalfa sprouts from the Netherlands.
"An increase of this magnitude demands more certainty that our
food supply is safe," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who
requested the GAO report as chairwoman of the Senate
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
FDA wants better standards overseas. The study found that the
FDA's reliance on port-of-entry inspections meant that only
46,395, or 1.7 percent, of more than 2.7 million imported
food shipments in 1997 were actually checked by an inspector.
Of those, only 16,000 underwent a laboratory analysis for
disease-causing organisms or other problems.
The Agriculture Department, on the other hand, visually checked
every shipment and did inspections on about 20 percent of 118,000
meat and poultry imports. In addition, USDA officials visited 30
countries and checked 336 international plants to ensure their
safety practices were equal to those in this country.
In a written response to the audit, FDA Associate Commissioner
Diane Thompson said the agency is seeking congressional approval
for authority to check overseas practices. But to prevent dis-
ruptions in international trade, Thompson said there should not
be a requirement for all imported foods.
"Such a requirement could have the undesirable effect of forcing
FDA to bar entry to imports from most of the world" until each
countries' practices were certified, she wrote.
The FDA also has proposed safety rules regarding seafood and
juice processing that would apply to imports. The agency is
pushing voluntary agriculture practices for both overseas and
domestic fruit and vegetable growers and processors.
------------------------Gaps in system----------------------
The GAO report found other gaps in the imported food safety
system, including:
USDA's food inspection service focuses too much on violations
such as missing shipping labels that "bear little relationship
to food safety" and should instead use health data to zero in
on foods likely to pose the greatest hazards.
Importers, not the FDA, choose which laboratories do sampling
when a shipment is held up over food safety questions. In ad-
dition, importers often retain control of shipments even if
the FDA decides to inspect them and, in some cases, goes ahead
and markets them anyway.
The FDA was able to conduct only about half its planned inspec-
tions and about 65 percent of its planned laboratory analyses
on imported foods in 1996 and 1997. The agency said these plans
are only projections and that inspectors often are called upon
to do emergency work that leaves routine tasks undone."
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