[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 78 (Friday, May 23, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S7134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was 
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-126. A Senate concurrent resolution adopted by the 
     Legislature of the State of Louisiana relative to the food 
     imports that contain the use of banned antibiotics, 
     especially in foreign imported shrimp; to the Committee on 
     Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

                  Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 18

       Whereas, it is the concern of the Legislature of Louisiana 
     that the presence of chloramphenicol and other banned 
     veterinary drugs in imported shrimp and the legislature calls 
     on the federal government to take immediate and focused 
     efforts to improve enforcement of food import restrictions of 
     seafood imports in order to protect American consumers and 
     ensure safety of the food supply; and
       Whereas, chloramphenicol, a potent antibiotic, can cause 
     severe toxic effects in humans, including hypoplastic and 
     aplastic anemia, which is usually irreversible and fatal; and
       Whereas, because of these human health impacts, 
     chloramphenicol, nitrofurans, and similar veterinary drugs 
     are not approved for use in food-producing animals in the 
     United States; and
       Whereas, countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and China 
     have been found to use these drugs in the aquaculture of 
     shrimp and other seafood; and
       Whereas, the United States imports over four hundred 
     thousand metric tons of shrimp annually, and Thailand and 
     Vietnam are the top two exporters of shrimp to the United 
     States, and China is the fifth largest exporter of shrimp to 
     the United States; and
       Whereas, upon detection of chloramphenicol using testing 
     protocols that detect such substances as low as zero point 
     three-tenths (0.3) parts per billion in certain shipments of 
     seafood from China and other nations, in 2002 the European 
     Union and Canada severely restricted imports of shrimp and 
     other food from these nations; and
       Whereas, the United States Food and Drug Administration 
     inspects only two percent of all seafood imports into the 
     country and utilizes a testing procedure that cannot detect 
     the presence of chloramphenicol below one part per billion; 
     and
       Whereas, the Food and Drug Administration import testing 
     did not detect chloramphenicol in shrimp imported from these 
     nations in 2002; and
       Whereas, independent testing performed by the states of 
     Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas detected 
     the presence of chloramphenicol in samples of imported shrimp 
     from China, as well as from other countries, that were at 
     levels considered harmful to human beings; and
       Whereas, imports of seafood from nations that utilize 
     substances banned in the United States such as 
     chloramphenicol, nitrofuran, and other veterinary drugs pose 
     potential threats to American consumers; and
       Whereas, denial of entry to contaminated shrimp and other 
     seafood products to the European Union and Canada will likely 
     redirect imports to the United States of contaminated 
     products turned away from these countries; and
       Whereas, United States based companies involved in the 
     importation and processing of shrimp are opposed to the use 
     of chloramphenicol and are working with the domestic shrimp 
     industry and the Food and Drug Administration to develop 
     effective protocols, including in-country testing, 
     certification of foreign testing facilities and other means 
     to detect banned antibiotics and to exclude all tainted 
     products from the United States marked; Therefore be it
       Resolved That the Legislature of Louisiana expresses its 
     concern about the presence of chloramphenicol, nitrofurans, 
     and other veterinary drugs in seafood products especially 
     imported shrimp and its potential impact on the safety of the 
     food, and calls for immediate and focused efforts by the 
     government of the United States to improve enforcement of 
     food import restrictions of seafood imports containing 
     chloramphenicol, nitrofurans, and other banned veterinary 
     drugs in order to protect American consumers and ensure the 
     safety of the food supply and further urges the Food and Drug 
     Administration to continue to work with importers and 
     domestic stakeholders to develop effective methods of 
     excluding such banned antibiotics.
       Be it further resolved That a copy of this Resolution shall 
     be transmitted to the secretary of the United States Senate 
     and the clerk of the United States House of Representatives 
     and to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United 
     States Congress.

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