The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced two regional public meetings for public comment on the Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) system. The meetings will be in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 18, 2017, and Fort Worth, Texas, on July 20, 2017. APHIS is seeking comment from the cattle and bison sectors and will accept written statements until July 31, 2017. Issue 638
Category Archives Department of Agriculture
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will host public meetings to hear comments on proposed revisions to regulations governing importation, interstate movement and environmental release of certain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Public meetings will be held in Kansas City, Missouri; Davis, California; Riverdale, Maryland; and via webcast in June 2017. Written comments may also be submitted. Issue 635
A Washington Post report tracking multiple shipments of corn and soybeans imported from Turkey has purportedly found that the food was sold in the U.S. market fraudulently labeled as organic. The article argues that U.S. Department of Agriculture organic standards create loopholes that allow fraud to slip through. Organic corn and soybeans grown outside of the United States are required to be inspected, the Post asserts, but they are not required to be tested for pesticide residue, and inspectors that do test have apparently found high levels of pesticide use on the supposedly organic foods. The Post tracked three shipments: the first was rejected by the importing company for failing to have proper documentation, the second was fraudulently relabeled as organic soybeans before being accepted by its importing company, which has since stopped selling "all potentially affected product," and the third was rejected by importers but continued to be marketed…
A group of California citrus growers has sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeking to stop implementation of a new rule that would lift the ban on importation of lemons from Argentina, claiming the rule violates both “sound science and good public policy.” U.S. Citrus Sci. Council v. USDA, No. 17-0680 (E.D. Cal., filed May 17, 2017). The plaintiffs assert that the United States has banned Argentine lemon imports since 1947 because “highly destructive plant pests and diseases plague Argentine citrus” and the Argentine government agency charged with plant protection “has a long and problematic history of failing to report pest and disease outbreaks promptly and of failing to ensure compliance” with basic plant protection measures. The plaintiffs argue that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service violated both the Plant Protection Act and the Administrative Procedure Act when it promulgated the new rule relying on conclusions reached during a…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has delayed the effective date of a final rule amending organic livestock and poultry requirements and requests additional public comment. The effective date of the rule has been postponed from May 19, 2017, to November 14, 2017. Interested parties may submit written comments by June 9, 2017. Issue 634
The Senate Agriculture Committee has approved Sonny Perdue's nomination to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), with Perdue receiving support from all members of the committee except Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), along with an abstention from Sonny Perdue's cousin, David Perdue (R-Ga.). The full Senate vote has not yet been scheduled. See Politico, March 30, 2017. After criticism over potential conflicts of interest, nominee for commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Scott Gottlieb has promised to recuse himself for one year from agency decisions involving more than a dozen companies. Gottlieb faces a Senate confirmation hearing on April 5, 2017. See The New York Times, March 29, 2017. Issue 629
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) have urged the federal government to act in response to a Brazilian investigation allegedly finding that more than 100 of the country's health inspectors allowed the sale of rancid meat, falsified export documents or failed to inspect meatpacking plants. Tester introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate purporting to temporarily ban Brazilian beef imports. "A 120-day ban will provide the U.S. Department of Agriculture time to comprehensively investigate food safety threats and to determine which Brazilian beef sources put American consumers [at] risk," Tester's March 21, 2017, press release asserts. In a March 22 press release, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service announced additional pathogen testing of all raw beef and ready-to-eat products from Brazil. "Keeping food safe for American families is our top priority,” Acting Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Mike Young was quoted as saying.…
The U.S. Senate is considering a bill that would give food and agriculture officials greater oversight of mergers and acquisitions involving U.S. food companies and foreign entities and includes new criteria to determine whether a transaction could result in control of a U.S. business by a foreign company. The bill would make the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) permanent members of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The purpose of CFIUS is to assess whether transactions involving foreign entities may impair U.S. national security; the bill adds criteria to the CFIUS review process to ensure that transactions are reviewed specifically for their potential impact on U.S. food and agriculture systems, including the availability of food and its safety and quality. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) introduced Senate Bill 616, titled the “Food Security…
A California federal court has granted the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) motion for summary judgment in a case alleging the agency acted arbitrarily in denying a petition to prohibit foie gras produced from force-fed poultry. Animal Legal Def. Fund v. USDA, No. 12-4028 (C.D. Cal., order entered December 14, 2016). In the petition for rulemaking, several animal rights organizations and individuals argued force-feeding poultry caused hepatic lipidosis in the animals, rendering them unhealthy and unsafe for consumption; USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) disagreed, finding that the buildup of fat from force-feeding did not make the liver unsafe to consume, unlike buildup related to disease. The court first determined that the Animal Legal Defense Fund and other plaintiff organizations had standing to sue, but the plaintiff individuals did not. Turning to the merits of the case, the court considered the plaintiffs’ three challenges to FSIS’s decision: (i) “its explanation for…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety and the Agricultural Marketing Service are convening a January 17, 2017, public meeting in Washington, D.C., to evaluate draft positions for consideration at the 3rd Session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) slated for February 6-10 in Chennai, India. Agenda items for the January 17 meeting include draft standards for cumin, thyme and oregano; a draft standard for black, white and green pepper; and sampling plans for cumin and thyme. See Federal Register, December 14, 2016. Issue 626
