House members duel with letters on catfish inspection
WASHINGTON, June 22, 2016 - Support in the House for a vote
to kill the USDA’s catfish inspection program is formidable, but some lawmakers
are still fighting to prevent a reversal of farm bill law that could give the
responsibility back to the FDA. The Senate has already taken a stand against
USDA inspection, but thus far, House GOP leaders have been reluctant to
schedule a vote.
Republicans including Rick Crawford of Arkansas, Robert Aderholt
of Alabama and Trent Kelly of Mississippi have either signed or said they will sign
on to letters to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi,
asking that a floor vote not be held on a measure to take the inspection
program away from USDA.
One, authored by Crawford, says: “Congress transferred
inspection to USDA in an effort to protect consumer health by countering the
pervasive use of adulterants by foreign exporters of catfish that continues to
threaten the U.S. food supply.” The letter asserts that the Food and Drug
Administration previously was inspecting less than 2 percent of imports while
USDA is inspecting 100 percent of catfish.
A separate letter crafted by the members of the Mississippi delegation
states: “The Senate’s action to nullify the (USDA) catfish program was
misguided and undermines the public health threat posed by importation of
adulterated catfish products. We write in hopes that the House refrains from
making the same mistake.” It has been signed by Kelly, fellow Republicans
Steven Palazzo and Gregg Harper and Democrat Bennie Thompson.
On the other hand, Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., says she and 179
other members from both parties have signed on to a letter
asking House leaders for a floor vote on the measure to kill USDA inspection. House
aides said the sheer number of lawmakers – including a majority of House
Republicans – that have signed the Hartzler letter should be enough to persuade
leadership to hold a vote, although one has not yet been scheduled.
“The duplicative catfish inspection program is the poster
child of wasteful government programs and everyone knows it,” Hartzler said in
a statement to Agri-Pulse. “Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle
recognize this is a rare opportunity in Washington to end a program that is
unnecessary and wasting tax dollars. It is the right thing to do and I am
hopeful we will be able to get this across the finish line soon. The
American people deserve it.”
But in the opposing camp, lawmakers argue that the claim of
duplication – USDA and FDA inspectors working in the same facilities to inspect
fish – just isn’t true.
“Today, only USDA has jurisdiction over catfish inspection,”
the Crawford letter says. “Section 12106 of the 2014 farm bill requires the FDA
and USDA carry out a Memorandum of Understanding so there is no overlap in
inspection of domestic processing facilities. As a result, USDA and FDA have
established, unequivocally, that inspectors from either agency will not be in
same facilities that process catfish and other seafood.”
Furthermore, proponents of keeping the USDA catfish
inspection program say that the department has already proven that it is better
than FDA at finding contaminated imports since it began taking samples from
foreign shipments in April.
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service rejected two
shipments of catfish from Vietnam in early May because they tested positive for
banned chemical residues. On May 26, FSIS rejected a shipment of Chinese
catfish because the importers refused to allow inspection. And on Monday FSIS
announced a recall
of about 26,000 pounds of frozen catfish products from Vietnam. FSIS said
the fish entered U.S. without undergoing the necessary inspection and
the agency warned people not to eat it.
Gavin Gibbons, a spokesman for the National Fisheries
Institute, stressed that the fish was not being recalled over a safety issue.
“A distribution error was made as part of the new USDA process, that everyone
is learning, and product was disseminated prior to completion of review,” he
stressed.
But proponents of keeping catfish inspection under USDA
authority continue to argue that it is a matter of food safety that the program
not be given back to FDA.
“USDA inspection of catfish is working,” Rep. Kelly insists.
He said the letter authored by the Mississippi delegation “highlights the
importance of food safety and a fair marketplace for catfish producers. Prior
to USDA inspection, imported catfish-like products were sold as safe without
ever being inspected. This program requires foreign countries to comply with
U.S. food safety standards, which ensures American families have access to a
safe food supply.”
Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack isn’t saying
what he would like to see happen.
“I’m not going to offer advice to Congress on this,” Vilsack
told Agri-Pulse. “I would simply ask Congress to make up its mind.”
#30
For more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com
