User fees, backlash against imports and other headlines

So who is responsible for food safety? With doubts about the ability of iindustry and its private third party auditors to manage food safety issues and grave concerns about government accountability and common sense in putting in place regulation of federal oversight, where do we go from here? It should be interesting, with the industry that called for regulation that is science-based and risk-based. It is all an imperfect science and there is much dispute over the issue of risk, the sufficiency of "continuous improvement" and more. Fasten your seatbelts. It is going to be a bumpy year:

Here is the result of the lastest Fresh Talk poll:

Poll ending March 21 2009

Will significant food safety reform legislation pass this year?
Yes 9 (56%)
No 7 (43%)

Votes so far: 16 Poll closed


Headlines snatched from the Web:

Cereal executive goes against the grain on user fees CQ Politics

David MacKay, chief executive for Kellogg Co., told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee he would support stronger food safety laws, even if that means user fees on industry. That stance has put him in the minority with industry groups, including the Grocery Manufacturers Association, that oppose such fees on food processors, comparing it to a food tax.



More food imports may spark food safety worries PE.com

California's agriculture industry is the most valuable in the nation. Statewide, only tourism and technology earn more. Most of the almonds, figs, persimmons, raisins, artichokes, dried plums, olives, pomegranates and walnuts produced in the United States come from California, and the state's farmers grow hundreds of other crops for markets, food producers and livestock operations. But after three years of drought, water is being shifted from farms to cities. If the trend continues, the nation would have to rely more on food grown outside its boundaries, a possibility that poses serious economic and food safety issues, agriculture and economy experts said. While California farmers adhere to the strictest environmental and food safety standards in the world, that isn't always the case elsewhere, warned A.G. Kawamura, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The risk of food-borne illnesses such as E. coli, salmonella and hepatitis A increases as people demand more fresh produce and uncooked, ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables, food safety experts said. Countries supplying some of that food have less stringent production, harvesting and processing practices that increase the chance of exposure to pesticide residue, environmental toxins and illness-causing bacteria, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. "Do we really know how the water used to irrigate our vegetables has been treated? If they're using sewage to irrigate their crops, and that sewage hasn't been treated to an adequate level, it could certainly pose a problem," said Marylynn Yates, a professor of environmental microbiology at UC Riverside. The move toward becoming a global economy also has created a heightened awareness of outbreaks, Yates said. About 1 percent of food coming across U.S. borders is visually inspected, which makes reliance on foreign-grown food risky, said Wendy Fink-Weber, spokeswoman for the Western Growers Association, which represents produce farmers in California and Arizona. And shipping distances affect freshness, Fink-Weber said.

Are we home alone? NYT

There don’t seem to be any adults at the top — nobody acting larger than the moment, nobody being impelled by anything deeper than the last news cycle. Instead, Congress is slapping together punitive tax laws overnight like some Banana Republic, our president is getting in trouble cracking jokes on Jay Leno comparing his bowling skills to a Special Olympian, and the opposition party is behaving as if its only priority is to deflate President Obama’s popularity.

Witness: banana tax financed death squads Times of the Internet

A former Colombian paramilitary leader says he used a tax on U.S. banana exporters to pay right-wing death squads that terrorized the country for years.

Lobbying efforts to help Mexican vehicles to keep on trucking CQ Politics

So a number of business groups are mobilizing a lobbying initiative to revive a program allowing Mexican truckers on U.S. highways, and in turn, reverse retaliatory tariffs that Mexico slapped on U.S. products this week.Congress included language in the recent omnibus spending law (PL 111-8) to shut down a Bush administration pilot program that allowed approved Mexican trucking companies to send their vehicles beyond a narrow border zone.Mexico complained that the action violated the requirements of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA, PL 103‑182) and imposed duties of 10 percent to 40 percent on U.S. goods.The tariffs, which took effect March 18, cover about 90 U.S. products, as varied as Christmas trees, pet food, beer and onions. The higher price of shipping U.S. products is expected to slow sales in Mexico. "We’re very concerned. And with the current economy, any disruption is not a positive outcome,” said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy at the United Fresh Produce Association. “We’re going to be talking pretty strongly to try to rectify this as soon as possible.”Guenther said he had been on a conference call March 19 to discuss putting together a lobbying campaign targeted at key lawmakers.