    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
    [November 6, 2007]
    [Pages 1433-1434]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With the Import Safety Working Group
    November 6, 2007

        Good afternoon. I just had an important briefing from Secretary
    Leavitt and other members of the
    Interagency Working Group on Import Safety. The United States is one of
    the most open markets in the world, and our consumers are better off
    because they have a wide variety of products from across the world to
    choose from. And while we have strong food and product safety standards,
    we need to do more to ensure that American families have confidence in
    what they find on our store shelves. They have the right to expect the
    food they eat or the medicines they take or the toys they buy for their
    children to be safe.
        Last year, the United States imported nearly $2 trillion of goods
    through more than 825,000 importers, and the vast majority of these
    imports are safe. Unfortunately, in recent months, Americans have seen
    imports from toys to toothpaste to pet food recalled because of safety
    concerns. My administration takes this problem seriously. So in July, I
    issued an Executive order establishing the Interagency Working Group on
    Import Safety. I asked this group to review the problem and to make
    recommendations for actions that we can take to address it.
        In September, this working group issued a report recommending that
    we change our strategy to ensure the safety of our imports. For many
    years, we have relied on a strategy based on identifying unsafe products
    at the border. The problem is that the growing volume of products coming
    into our country makes this approach increasingly unreliable. The
    working group recommended that we adopt a smarter and more effective
    approach that focuses on prevention, building safety into products from
    the very beginning of the supply chain. Under this approach, we will
    focus on stopping dangerous products from reaching our border in the
    first place, for example, by ensuring that food and consumer products
    meet our standards for safety before they leave their home countries.
        Today the working group presented me with 14 recommendations for
    areas where we can begin implementing such an approach. And I appreciate
    your hard work. For example, we will establish new incentives for
    importers that follow strong safety practices and demonstrate a good
    track record. We will increase our training of inspectors in foreign
    countries, so they can stop dangerous goods at their borders instead of
    ours. We will work for higher and more uniform standards for high-risk
    foods and consumer goods. And we will work to increase penalties for
    those who violate U.S. import laws and regulations. Secretary
    Leavitt will provide you with a more
    detailed briefing on these recommendations in a few moments.
        In conjunction with these import safety measures, the Food and Drug
    Administration is today unveiling a Food Protection Plan. This plan
    addresses both imported and domestically produced food and will
    strengthen the FDA's ability to coordinate with other Federal Agencies
    to protect our food supply. By identifying risks all along the food
    supply chain, this plan will help prevent the problems from arising,
    respond effectively if they do, and improve communication with industry
    and our public.
        A key feature of both our Import Safety Plan and our Food Protection
    Plan is a recommendation that the FDA be granted new authority to recall
    the unsafe food products. Specifically, the FDA would be empowered to
    order a recall when a company refuses to recall their product
    voluntarily or moves too slowly in removing the unsafe product from the
    market. With this authority, the FDA will be in a better position to act
    quickly if any problem occurs.

    [[Page 1434]]

        The steps I have announced today will require wide-ranging
    cooperation between Federal Agencies, foreign governments, the private
    sector, and consumer safety organizations. Some steps can be implemented
    by the executive branch, and we will move forward with these measures.
    Others will require legislation, and we will work with Congress to enact
    the appropriate laws. And all these steps will require a commitment by
    all involved to make the safety of our children and our families the
    highest priority.
        I thank the members of the working group for their continued efforts
    on this important issue. The American people expect our system of import
    safety to be strong and effective, and we will continue to work to make
    sure it is.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:40 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House. In his remarks, he referred to Executive Order 13439.