Import safety: yawn

This HHS report about import safety doesn't seem to be getting a lot of play in the press, perhaps because everyone is paying attention to the salmonella outbreak story. Highlights from the HHS news release

The new Action Plan Update chronicles the substantial progress made by the federal government, private sector and international partners over the last eight months, and also previews selected plans for the near- and long-term. Accomplishments include:

• The Justice Department has indicted two Chinese businesses and a U.S. company for their roles in manufacturing and importing tainted ingredients used in pet food.

• The Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agency is coordinating to ensure harmonized government procedures and requirements exist in importation. CBP is working towards a shared automated system permitting information gathering and sharing among participating import safety agencies.

• HHS signed and has begun to implement landmark Memoranda of Agreement with China to enhance the safety of a wide variety of food, feed, drugs and medical devices traded between the two nations.

• The Environmental Protection Agency signed an agreement with China to protect human health and the environment in the field of imported and exported products.

• The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has a Memorandum of Understanding with China and implemented agreements in key consumer product categories.

• CBP and CPSC are working with the private sector to explore including an import safety component in CBP’s Importer Self-Assessment Program.

• The Toy Industry Association partnered with the American National Standards Institute to create a safety assurance program for toys.

• Discovering an increase in adverse reactions to heparin, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) linked the contaminant to Chinese suppliers and has worked with the Chinese government subsequently to improve testing. This process was more efficient due to two previous Memoranda of Agreement that were put in place last December to enhance the safety of a wide variety of food, feed, drugs and medical devices traded between the two nations.

• The United States Government (HHS, USDA and the Department of Commerce) participated in a forum with Central American countries to discuss ways to ensure the safety of manufactured goods and foods as they move between countries. Similar discussions have occurred with the leaders of other countries, including China, Viet Nam and India.