[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 151 (Monday, November 5, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11443-S11444]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. Collins:
  S. 1634. A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 
improve the safety of perishable products whose import is regulated by 
the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce The Imported 
Food Safety Act of 2001. Food safety has been a serious public health 
concern in America for some time, but our awareness of the 
vulnerability of our food supply has been heightened since September 
11.
  I have long been concerned about the adequacy of our Nation's 
imported food supply system. In 1998, in my capacity as chairman of the 
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, I began an in-depth 16 month 
investigation into the safety of food imports. This investigation 
revealed much about the government's flawed food safety net. 
Regrettably, in the intervening three years, little has changed, and 
now we must acknowledge that those systemic shortcomings can also be 
used by those who wish to perpetrate acts of bioterrorism.
  As part of the investigation, I requested the GAO to evaluate the 
federal government's efforts to ensure the safety of imported foods. In 
its April 1998 report, the GAO concluded that ``federal efforts to 
ensure the safety of imported foods are inconsistent and unreliable.'' 
Just last month, the GAO reiterated that conclusion in testimony before 
the Senate's Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management.
  During five days of Subcommittee hearings, we heard testimony from 29 
witnesses, including scientists, industry and consumer representatives, 
government officials, the General Accounting Office, and two persons 
with first-hand knowledge of the seamier side of the imported food 
industry, a convicted Customs broker and a convicted former FDA 
inspector.
  Let me briefly recount some of the Subcommittee's findings which make 
it clear why this legislation is so urgently needed: weaknesses in FDA 
import controls, specifically the ability of importers to control food 
shipments from the port to the point of distribution, make the system 
vulnerable to fraud and deception and clearly to a terrorist attack; 
the bonds required to be posted by importers who violate food safety 
laws are so low that they are considered by some unscrupulous importers 
as the cost of doing business; maintaining the food safety net for 
imported food is an increasingly complex task, made more complicated by 
previously unknown foodborne pathogens, like Cyclospora, that are 
difficult to detect; our recent experience with anthrax has taught us 
that there is much more public health officials need to know to ensure 
the safety of our food; because some imported food can be contaminated 
by substances that cannot be detected by visual inspection, grant 
programs need to be established that will encourage the rapid 
development of food safety monitoring sensors that are capable of 
detecting chemical and biological contaminants; since contamination of 
imported food can occur at many different places from the farm to the 
table, the ability to trace outbreaks of foodborne illnesses back to 
the source of contamination requires more coordinated effort among 
Federal, State, and local agencies responsible for ensuring food 
safety, as well as improved education for health care providers so that 
they can better recognize and treat foodborne illnesses. Again, our 
recent experience with anthrax underscores the need for better 
coordination and education.
  Since the terrorist attacks that occurred just weeks ago, we have 
been living in a changed world. We are battling enemies who show no 
regard for the value of human life, and whose twisted minds seek to 
destroy those who embody democracy and freedom. It has never been as 
important as it is now to ensure that our food supplies are adequately 
protected against contamination, both inadvertent and intentional.

  President Bush and his Administration are acting swiftly and 
decisively on all fronts. Among the responsibilities of the Office of 
Homeland Security is the protection of our livestock and agricultural 
systems from terrorist attack. And the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, Tommy Thompson, has been working tirelessly to obtain the 
additional tools necessary to combat bioterrorism.
  On October 17, 2001, Secretary Thompson appeared before the Senate's 
Governmental Affairs Committee, and testified about the Federal 
Government's efforts to ensure that the country is adequately prepared 
to respond to bioterrorist threats. He identified food safety and, in 
particular, imported foods, as vulnerable areas that require further 
strengthening. Similarly, at a recent hearing before the Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, public health experts were

[[Page S11444]]

unanimous in expressing concern about the vulnerability of our food.
  Weak import controls make our system all too easy to circumvent. 
After all, FDA only inspects fewer than one percent of all imported 
food shipments that arrive in our country. Those shipments are sent 
from countries around the world, most of whom wish us no harm. Yet, 
because of the hard lessons we have had to learn since September 11, we 
must be more vigilant about protecting ourselves. It is vital that we 
take the necessary steps to close the loopholes that unscrupulous 
shippers have used in the past and that bioterrorists could exploit 
now.
  I first became concerned about the safety of the U.S. food supply in 
1998 when I learned that fruit from Mexico and Guatemala was associated 
with three multi-state outbreaks of foodborne illnesses that sickened 
thousands of Americans. Regrettably, those type of outbreaks are far 
too common. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, 
estimate that 76 million cases of foodborne illnesses occur each year. 
Fortunately, the majority of these incidents are mild and cause 
symptoms for only a day or two. Less fortunately, the CDC also 
estimates that over 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths result 
from those 76 million cases. And as astonishingly high as those numbers 
are, they are estimates, and the truth may be even more deadly.
  It was because of my concern that I began the Subcommittee's 
investigation of the adequacy of our country's imported food safety 
system. During the Subcommittee's hearings, the testimony I heard was 
troubling. The United States Customs Service told us of one 
particularly egregious situation. It involves contaminated fish and 
illustrates the challenges facing federal regulators who are charged 
with ensuring the safety of our Nation's food supply.
  In 1996, Federal inspectors along our border with Mexico opened a 
shipment of seafood destined for sales to restaurants in Los Angeles. 
The shipment was dangerously tainted with life-threatening 
contaminants, including botulism, Salmonella, and just plain filth. 
Much to the surprise of the inspectors, this shipment of frozen fish 
had been inspected before by Federal authorities. Alarmingly, in fact, 
it had arrived at our border two years before, and had been rejected by 
the FDA as unfit for consumption. Its importers then held this rotten 
shipment for two years before attempting to bring it into the country 
again, by a different route.
  The inspectors only narrowly prevented this poisoned fish from 
reaching American plates. And what happened to the importer who tried 
to sell this deadly food to American consumers? In effect, nothing. He 
was placed on probation and asked to perform 50 hours of community 
service.
  I suppose we should be thankful that the perpetrators were caught in 
this case. After all, the unsafe food might have escaped detection and 
reached our tables. But it worries me that the importer essentially 
received a slap on the wrist. I believe that forfeiting the small 
amount of money currently required for the Custom's bond, which some 
importers now consider no more than a ``cost of doing business,'' does 
little to deter unscrupulous importers from trying to slip tainted fish 
that is two years old past overworked Customs agents.
  It is imperative that Congress provide our Federal agencies with the 
direction, resources, and authority necessary to protect our food 
supply from acts of bioterrorism and to keep unsafe, unsanitary food 
out of the United States.
  I have worked with the FDA, the Customs Service, and the CDC to 
ensure that my legislation corrects many of the vulnerabilities that 
have been identified in our imported food safety system. Let me 
describe what this bill is designed to accomplish.
  My legislation will fill the existing gaps in the food import system 
and provide the FDA with stronger authority to protect American 
consumers against tainted food imports. First and foremost, this bill 
gives the FDA the authority to stop such food from entering our 
country. My bill would authorize FDA to deny the entry of imported food 
that has caused repeated outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, presents a 
reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences, 
and is likely without systemic changes to cause disease again.
  Second, this legislation would enable the FDA to require secure 
storage of shipments offered by repeat offenders prior to their release 
into commerce. Unscrupulous shippers who have demonstrated a 
willingness to knowingly send tainted food to our country cannot be 
overlooked as potential sources of bioterrorist acts. My bill would 
also prohibit the practice of ``port-shopping,'' and would require that 
boxes containing violative foods that have been refused entry into our 
country be clearly marked. This latter authority is currently used with 
success by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. My bill also would 
require the destruction of certain imported foods that cannot be 
adequately reconditioned to ensure safety.
  Third, the legislation would direct the FDA to develop criteria for 
use by private laboratories to collect and analyze samples of food 
offered for import. This will ensure the integrity of the testing 
process.
  Fourth, the bill would give ``teeth'' to the current food import 
system by establishing two strong deterrents, the threats of higher 
bonds and of debarment, for unscrupulous importers who repeatedly 
violate U.S. law. No longer will the industry's ``bad actors'' be able 
to profit from endangering the health of American consumers.
  Finally, my bill would authorize the CDC to award grants to state and 
local public health agencies to strengthen the public health 
infrastructure by updating essential items such as laboratory and 
electronic-reporting equipment. Grants would also be available for 
universities, non-profit corporations, and industrial partners to 
develop new and improved sensors and tests to detect pathogens and for 
professional schools and professional societies to develop programs to 
increase the awareness of foodborne illness among healthcare providers 
and the public.
  We are truly fortunate that the American food supply is one of the 
safest in the world. But our system for safeguarding our people from 
imported food that has been tainted, either intentionally or 
inadvertently, is flawed.
  Finally, I am very pleased to also be working with my colleagues on 
bipartisan bioterrorism legislation that targets problems posed by 
bioterrorist threats to our Nation's food supply and public health. I 
believe that the measures provided for in my Imported Food Safety Act 
of 2001, and the bipartisan bioterrorism bill, will significantly 
reduce the threat to our country. I hope that we will pass both pieces 
of legislation this year.

                          ____________________