The Two Plans

The White House features this Web page to reveal what is contained in the Import Safety Action Plan, That report, plus the FDA's Food Protection Plan covered in another blog post, compete for headlines today. Here is the response of Rep. Rosa DeLauro to both reports:

With Plan in Hand the Question Becomes Admin’s Willingness to Implement the Report

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) issued the following statement on the two reports issued by the Administration – the Import Safety Action Plan created by the Interagency Working Group on Import Safety and the Food and Drug Administration’s Food Protection Plan.

“After over a decade of advocating for mandatory recall authority, I welcome the Administration’s acknowledgement that these powers are needed to better protect the American people. But the devil is in the details – I look forward to specific legislative language to ensure that these proposed additional authorities are adequate.

“However, based on this Administration’s track record and philosophy, I have low expectations for their willingness to exercise these new authorities and ultimately, their willingness to implement this report. I am even skeptical of their willingness to enact the changes for which they claim they need no new authority. This Administration has created a bureaucratic culture indifferent to consumer protection and public health, so it has a significant barrier to overcome to establish any credibility on these issues.

“There have been numerous examples under this Administration of food and product safety plans being drafted only to languish within the agencies and ultimately ignored. It will be up to those of us in Congress to act immediately to ensure that the agencies possess the adequate authorities to protect American families from unsafe foods and unsafe toys."