[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 135 (Wednesday, October 10, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1837]]



                 IMPROVING THE SAFETY OF IMPORTED FOOD

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 10, 2001

  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, according to the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services Tommy Thompson, there is a need to protect food coming 
into the U.S. from foreign countries against intentional adulteration. 
I agree. For the last two congresses, most of the Democratic members of 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce have sponsored legislation aimed 
at improving the safety of imported food Americans eat. Today, I am 
reintroducing that bill together with amendments that give higher 
priority to, and that deal more directly with, concerns about the 
intentional adulteration of imported food that we, the American public, 
and the Secretary now share as a result of the recent tragic events in 
New York City and Washington.
  Although the legislation I introduced in the last two congresses has 
not received so much as a hearing, Congress's failure to act is not 
because there hasn't been a problem. According to the General 
Accounting Office (GAO), adulterated food causes 81 million illnesses 
and as many as 9,100 deaths each year. The important thing to know, 
however, is that these deaths and illnesses are also avoidable. We have 
the means to arm the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the 
authority and resources it needs to protect our food supply. There are 
exciting new technologies that have the potential to make tests for 
microbial and pesticide or other chemical adulteration easy to perform 
and affordable.
  Unfortunately, FDA does virtually no preventive testing under our 
current food import program. Food shows up at any one of 307 different 
ports of entry. An FDA inspector may or may not be present. And, even 
if an inspector is present, only about one percent of imported fresh 
fruits and vegetables are inspected and even fewer tested. The tests 
can take a week or more to yield results. In the meantime, the food is 
long gone and most likely consumed.
  Instead of pre-testing and verifying the safety of imported food 
before the American public eats it, the FDA waits for people to get 
sick or die before it tries to determine whether food adulteration is 
involved. The outrageous and wholly intolerable conclusion one must 
draw is that Americans are being used as guinea pigs.
  There are special problems with imported food that do not exist with 
food produced in the U.S. FDA lacks authority and resources to ``trace 
back'' the source of food borne illness beyond the border. It also does 
not have access to the points of production, processing, and 
distribution as it does in the case of U.S. food products. Furthermore, 
preventive detection is virtually impossible because FDA does not have 
tests available to detect pathogens on imported food in a timely 
manner. Finally, FDA cannot even account, in many cases, for what 
happens to imported fruits and vegetables that are adulterated and 
refused admission into the U.S.
  GAO has studied this situation and has concluded that the Federal 
government cannot ensure that imported food is safe. New resources, 
authorities, and technologies are needed for FDA to assure the American 
public, with confidence, that imported food has not been intentionally 
adulterated and is safe.
  More food safety inspectors are needed. FDA only has 150 inspectors 
who are spread thinly at 307 ports where food comes into the United 
States--less than half the number of inspectors needed to cover all 
ports on a full-time basis. On the other hand, meat and poultry that 
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must inspect comes into the 
United States at only 35 ports. Furthermore, USDA gets 80% of the food 
safety budget even though it has responsibility for only 20% of the 
food supply, while FDA that has responsibility for 80% of the food 
supply gets only 20% of the food safety budget.
  The Imported Food Safety Act of 2001, which I am introducing today, 
addresses each of these problems. It gives the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services authority to limit the number of ports where imported 
food may come into the U.S. Therefore, if FDA only has enough 
inspectors to cover 20 ports, instead of the 307 ports it now tries to 
inspect, the Secretary can require imported food to come through those 
20 ports. The bill also authorizes such sums as the Secretary deems 
necessary to hire enough inspectors and to conduct enough tests so that 
the American public has confidence that imported food has not been 
intentionally adulterated.
  The legislation also provides additional resources in the form of a 
modest user fee on imported foods, and a ``Manhattan Project'' to 
develop ``real time'' tests that yield results within 60 minutes to 
detect E. coli, salmonella, and other microbial contaminants as well as 
pesticides and other chemical contaminants. Finally, the legislation 
gives FDA authority like USDA has for meat and poultry, to stop unsafe 
food at the border and to assure that its ultimate destination is not 
America's dinner table.
  Mr. Speaker, the time for action is now. Thirty-eight percent of all 
the fruit and 12 percent of all the vegetables Americans eat each year 
come from foreign countries. Over the last five years, the volume of 
food imported into the U.S. has almost doubled. FDA has acknowledged 
that it is ``in danger of being overwhelmed by the volume of products 
reaching U.S. ports.''
  Let's do the people's business and improve the safety of our food 
supply. Let's hear from consumers, public health experts, and all 
others with an interest in the matter. I am confident that none will 
dare defend the status quo.

                          ____________________