Washington Insider-- Monday

Single Food Safety Agency, Again

Here's a quick monitor of Washington farm and trade policy issues from DTN's well-placed observer.

U.S. Business Groups Keep a Wary Watch on Lingering COOL Issue

Congress needs to take immediate action to address the pending World Trade Organization dispute on U.S. mandatory country-of-origin labeling for meat and meat products, according to a wide-ranging coalition of agriculture, business groups and other stakeholders. That sentiment came in the form of letters to members of Congress from the U.S. Council for International Business, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Tate & Lyle Americas, Kellogg, Kraft Foods and The Latino Coalition, among others.

"[A] World Trade Organization (WTO) Compliance Panel released a report determining that the requirements violated obligations the United States has undertaken as a member of the WTO with regard to our two largest export markets, Canada and Mexico. If the Compliance Panel's original findings are found to be valid, both Canada and Mexico could subject an array of U.S. exports to retaliatory tariffs as soon as second quarter, 2015," the groups said in their letter.

Non-binding report language accompanying the omnibus appropriations bill passed by Congress in December directs Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to recommend statutory changes within 15 days of a WTO decision on U.S. country-of-origin labeling for meat products or May 1, whichever comes first. Vilsack has indicated that the department needs more guidance from Congress before drafting possible changes.

Further complicating the issue is a disagreement that has broken out in the United States regarding how much retribution the WTO may allow Canada and Mexico to impose on U.S. imports. Supporters of COOL speculate that the final dollar figure for retaliation will be much smaller than the several billions that some fear. These individuals are calling on Congress and the administration to more or less call the bluff of our two neighboring countries. However, it should be noted, those who are urging this line of action will suffer no losses if their prediction proves to be off the mark.

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Trade Promotion Authority Set to Move in Senate

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, says he wants to mark up Trade Promotion Authority legislation by the end of February and plans as early as this week to introduce a bill providing President Obama with the fast-track authority he needs to sign to sign trade agreements.

Hatch is continuing talks with Finance ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., "regarding the renewal of bipartisan, job-creating Trade Promotion Authority," according to a committee spokeswoman.

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Once the administration submits a trade agreement to lawmakers for their approval under TPA, an up-or-down vote without amendments must be held within strict time frames under rules limiting debate to prevent delays. In exchange for these fast-track voting procedures, the administration is required to follow the negotiating objectives and consultation requirements set out in the TPA bill. As we've mentioned before, Democrats, labor unions and environmental groups will fight the president on this issue. However, if Chairman Hatch is successful in moving a TPA bill quickly, the issue could be resolved by March, at least in the Senate.

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Washington Insider: Single Food Safety Agency, Again

Every so often, one or a group of politicians notices that the United States has somewhat confusing line-up of agencies in charge of some part of food safety. This time it is Democrats Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut who say they are nearly ready to introduce a bill to create a single food safety agency, consolidating activities currently conducted by 15 — or more — federal entities, but mainly USDA for meat and the Food and Drug Administration for other foods.

The rationale for such a change is clear, Durbin told the press recently. He called the bill the latest step in a more than 20-year effort.

In fact, he was able to point to the case of eggs, highlighted by the Government Accountability Office in 2013 (it also makes great copy for politicians) "From start to finish, the life of an egg traces the complicated web of federal agencies with food safety oversight," Durbin said. "One agency manages the health of the hens. Another oversees the feed they eat. Yet another sets quality standards, but does not test the eggs for Salmonella. Once the egg is laid, if it is in a shell, it is the responsibility of the FDA, but if it is processed into an egg product, it is the responsibility of USDA."

Politicians also note that in spite of all this oversight, people still get sick from food. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 48 million people annually suffer from foodborne illness and of these, perhaps 3,000 die.

That's not the whole story, of course. The combined efforts of the food industry and government regulatory agencies are often credited with making the U.S. food supply among the safest in the world, even as new trends in markets add stresses to the system. For example, increasing imports as a share of U.S. food consumptions and increasing consumption of fresh, often unprocessed, foods pose ongoing challenges to ensuring food safety, the Congressional Research Service found.

As a result, Congress passed comprehensive food safety legislation in 2010 that sharply expanded FDA's food authorities, and focused on foods regulated by FDA and amended FDA's existing structure and authorities, but basically left USDA's authorities unchanged.

The differences in magnitude of overall food safety and that of meat and poultry are striking. For example, CRS estimates that unannounced compliance inspections of domestic establishments by FDA officials range from once every five years to once every 10 years, on average for the more than 400,000 plants covered. However, the agency claims to visit about 6,000 so-called high-risk facilities on an annual basis.

By comparison, the number of regulated meat and poultry facilities under USDA's jurisdiction is smaller at just over 6,000 establishments, a number that has remained more stable over time. Both FDA and USDA spent about $1 billion in appropriated funds for inspection in FY 2014, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Durbin and DeLauro have introduced variations of their new Safe Food Act in the past. Previous versions have consolidated the food safety operations of USDA, FDA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees seafood inspections.

Chris Waldrop, director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America, expects the forthcoming legislation to be similar. Waldrop said the proposal might face opposition from companies that are comfortable with the agency or agencies that currently oversee their operations. However, critics suggest that the issue of food safety is much more complex than that and implies more than simply juggling an organization chart.

For example, effective inspection of livestock and poultry operations is far more complicated than checking other food operations.

Observers generally suggest that it would be a good idea to complete the implementation of the new food safety modernization Act with its broadened authorities before thinking much about an even more challenging system wide reorganization. Clearly, the meat and poultry inspection efforts are very different than the food and drug ones, and it is not immediately clear how consolidation will improve the effectiveness of those.

This is not to say that no changes are needed and that the current toll of illness outbreaks cannot be reduced. However, it does suggest that changes of the magnitude being discussed need to be thought through very carefully and undertaken for real, science-based reasons rather than simply for the sake of neater PowerPoint charts, Washington Insider believes.


Want to keep up with events in Washington and elsewhere throughout the day? See DTN Top Stories, our frequently updated summary of news developments of interest to producers. You can find DTN Top Stories in DTN Ag News, which is on the Main Menu on classic DTN products and on the News and Analysis Menu of DTN's Professional and Producer products. DTN Top Stories is also on the home page and news home page of online.dtn.com. Subscribers of MyDTN.com should check out the U.S. Ag Policy, U.S. Farm Bill and DTN Ag News sections on their News Homepage.

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(GH/CZ)

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