USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has published a notice soliciting nominations for membership on a national advisory committee that addresses meat and poultry inspection issues. Names and curriculum vitae must be postmarked no later than January 23, 2009. FSIS is seeking a diverse membership drawn from industry, academia, state and local government officials, public health organizations, and consumers and consumer organizations. The committee “provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary on meat and poultry inspection programs.” See Federal Register, December 24, 2008.
Category Archives Department of Agriculture
In late December 2008, Mexico banned imports of meat from 30 U.S. processing facilities, telling the USDA that sanitary issues were to blame, although some, including Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), suggested that the move was in retaliation for the new country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules that took effect September 30. Mexican officials denied any connection and reportedly lifted the embargo for 26 of the plants as of December 30. According to a news source, Mexico is the leading buyer of U.S. meat, and the suspension led to a sharp decline in cattle and hog futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. U.S. and Mexican officials were reportedly scheduled to meet January 5, 2009, to discuss meat import issues. Meanwhile, Mexico has reportedly joined Canada before the World Trade Organization seeking consultations with the United States over the COOL regulations. The two countries are apparently most concerned about the impact on meat and livestock,…
President-Elect Barack Obama has reportedly named former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (D) to serve at the helm of USDA. Political observers characterize Vilsack as a centrist who balanced his state’s budget, resisted tax increases and agreed to spend tax revenues on education and health. Vilsack briefly sought the Democratic presidential nomination, but dropped out due to difficulties raising campaign funds. He is apparently a renewable energy proponent and is known as a staunch advocate of ethanol. An issue the USDA secretary will face in 2009 may be whether to grant the ethanol industry billions in federal aid as part of an economic stimulus package. The Organic Consumers Association has already begun a campaign to stop Vilsack’s confirmation by the U.S. Senate. According to the association’s executive director, “Vilsack’s nomination sends the message that dangerous, untested, unlabeled genetically engineered crops will be the norm in the Obama administration. Our nation’s future…
This op-ed piece advises President-Elect Barack Obama to select a reformer for the top position in the Department of Agriculture and to recast the agency as the Department of Food, thereby “giving primacy to America’s 300 million eaters.” Appointing a “secretary of food” would signal Obama’s intention to “move away from the bankrupt structure of factory farming that squanders energy, exacerbates climate change and makes American unhealthy – all while costing taxpayers billions of dollars,” according to columnist Nicholas Kristof. He faults both Republicans and Democrats on congressional agriculture committees for “kowtowing” to industrial farming interests, which have allegedly used their influence “to inflict unhealthy food on American children in school-lunch programs, exacerbating our national crisis with diabetes and obesity.” Kristof points readers to an online petition that names six potential reform candidates for the secretary of agriculture post, including the Center for Rural Affairs’ executive director, Chuck Hassebrook. In…
The American Soybean Association (ASA) has asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Inspector General to investigate the administration of the federally mandated soy checkoff program that is responsible for industry-wide marketing and promotion efforts. “Serious ethical, legal and financial allegations have been raised about how farmer checkoff funds and program activities are being conducted,” stated ASA President John Hoffman in a press release that levied several charges against the United Soybean Board (USB) and the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USECC) for their oversight of checkoff resources. The association’s allegations include “the improper and wasteful expenditure of both checkoff and federal funds; potential evasion of mandated salary and administrative spending caps by USB; conflicts of interest at USB; use of checkoff funds for prohibited purposes by USB; and wasteful and excessive spending by USB.” In addition, ASA cited concerns about “improper USB oversight and tolerance of actions that…
USDA is asking the pork industry to decide whether to hold a referendum on the Pork Checkoff Program, a mandatory promotion fund overseen by the National Pork Board and the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. The agency’s request for referendum gives pork producers and importers between December 8 and January 2, 2009, to vote in favor of a referendum on the program. “If 15 percent of the total number of eligible producers and importers want a referendum on the Pork Checkoff Program, the referendum will be conducted within one year after the results for the Request for Referendum are announced,” stated USDA, which issued the request in accordance with the settlement agreement stemming from a 2001 lawsuit initiated by the Michigan Pork Producers Association. Meanwhile, the U.S. Food Policy Blog has urged the pork industry to back the referendum, in part because the checkoff program is “an ineffective way of increasing…
Food activist Marion Nestle reports in her “What to Eat” blog that the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board has approved a rule to allow “farmed carnivorous fish to eat meal and oil derived from sustainably wild-caught fish.” The board’s decision means that wild fish cannot be classified as organic, but farm-raised fish can be considered organic even if they eat fish meal made with wild fish. Citing Food Chemical News, Nestle notes that the board also approved the use of open net pens in organic aquaculture with restrictions to prevent farmed fish from escaping and the recycling of nutrients. “Net pens would only be allowed in specified areas to avoid lice contamination.” Consumers Union reportedly criticized the proposal at a press conference held before the board meeting at which the vote was taken, focusing on the use of “net cages,” which purportedly allow waste and disease from fish farms to…
The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a correction to a proposed rule regarding the “importation, interstate movement and release into the environment of certain genetically engineered [GE] organisms.” Where the October 9, 2008, notice indicated that the rule would preempt “no State or local laws or regulations,” the correction substitutes “All State and local laws or regulations that are inconsistent with this rule will be preempted.” Comments on the entire proposal must be submitted on or before November 24, 2008. The original proposal represents the “first comprehensive review and revision of the regulations since they were established in 1987,” bringing the rules “into alignment with provisions of the Plant Protection Act” and updating the rules “in response to advances in genetic science and technology.” Among the changes proposed are provisions to revise the rules’ scope “to make it clear that decisions regarding which organisms are regulated…
The USDA has issued a proposed rule that will amend the livestock provisions of the National Organic Program by providing greater detail about pasture and ruminant animals and “clarify the replacement animal provision for dairy animals.” Comments must be submitted on or before December 23, 2008. The Federal Register notice provides a history of the rule’s development and summarizes the content of the thousands of comments the agency received on an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking published in 2006. According to the agency, “[s]upport for strict standards and greater detail on the role of pasture in organic livestock production was nearly unanimous with just 28 of the over 80,500 comments opposing changes to the pasture requirements.” Among the changes are (i) defining “crop” to include pastures, sod and cover crops; (ii) defining “livestock” as “Any bee, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry, equine animals used for food or in the production…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have announced a November 4, 2008, public meeting to consider agenda items coming before the 17th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS). Slated for November 24-28 in Cebu, Philippines, the Codex session will address (i) the proposed draft “Principles and Guidelines for the Conduct of Foreign On-Site Audits and Inspections;” (ii) the proposed draft “General Model Health Certificate;” and (iii) the annex to the “Guidelines for Design, Production, Insurance and Use of Generic Official Certificates.” In addition, the committee will discuss “the need for guidance for national food inspection systems, the need for further guidance on traceability and product tracing, and the development of guidance on the prevention of international contamination of food,” according to USDA. Codex was formed in 1963 by the United Nations, the Food and…
