[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 45 (Monday, November 12, 2007)]
[Pages 1463-1464]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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

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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.
    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.