    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
    [July 18, 2007]
    [Pages 981-982]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With the Import Safety Working Group
    July 18, 2007

        The American people expect their Government to work tirelessly to
    make sure consumer products are safe. And that is precisely what my
    administration is doing.
        I've called together key members of my Cabinet to review the
    procedures in place, the regulations in place, the practices in place to
    make sure that our food supply remains the safest in the world. The
    world is changing, and in order to make sure that we can continue to
    have the confidence of our consumers, that--we will continually review
    practices and procedures to assure the American consumer.
        And so I've asked Mike Leavitt, the
    Secretary of HHS, to lead a task group that will report back to me in 60
    days on a strategy that will review procedures in place and regulations
    in place to make sure that they're meeting the needs of a changing
    world, that part of our strategy is we work with our countries from
    which we import goods to make sure that their procedures and practices
    will give us comfort. And finally, we'll be working with companies that
    import goods from around the world to make sure that their practices
    meet the high standards that we set for the United States.
        This is a serious issue; food safety and consumer safety is a
    serious issue. We take it seriously, and we spend a lot of time on it in
    this administration. So, Michael, I want
    to thank you very much for taking on this task force. It's important for
    the American people to know their Government is on top of the situation
    and constantly reviewing procedures and practices. So thank you.

    [[Page 982]]

    Note: The President spoke at 2:50 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House. The Executive order establishing the Interagency Working
    Group on Import Safety is listed in Appendix D at the end of this
    volume.