FDA: Roll the borders back

This story speaks to the visit by FDA officials to Mexico and the desire of the agency to set up an office in Latin America. From the story:

Speaking during a weeklong visit to Mexico and Central America, Leavitt said yesterday that inspectors were working with their Mexican counterparts to inspect farms, distribution centers and transportation methods. Investigators are focusing their investigation on tomatoes from three states: Jalisco, Sinaloa and Coahuila. Initially, the Salmonella outbreak halted all tomato imports from Mexico, but regulators have now cleared shipments from most of the country, except those from the three suspect states.

In advocating for the Latin American food safety office, Leavitt cited both the tomato outbreak, and another Salmonella incident earlier this year that stemmed from cantaloupes imported from Honduras. ” We’ve had two incidents in the last month and a half: the Honduran cantaloupe, and now the tomatoes,” Leavitt said. “What it demonstrates is that when these incidents occur, we need a quick response.”

Leavitt said that inspecting produce at the border is no longer sufficient to insure food safety, and said that “rolling the borders back” so that inspectors have access to farms and facilities were foods are produced and packed would be a more efficient strategy.

TK: If the U.S. prevails setting up an office in Latin America, don't think it too far-fetched that Mexican authorities would want a similar accommodation based on "the principle of reciprocity" for U.S. exports to Mexico. In fact, Big Apple here notes that China seeks to establish food safety offices in the U.S. in response to a request by the FDA to set up shop in China.