GAO High Risk Series - the link

Here is the link to the recent GAO High Risk Series. Here is what the 99 page report says about itself:


The list is updated every two years and released at the start of each new Congress to help in setting oversight agendas. Recent Congresses and administrations have been particularly alert to GAO’s High-Risk List and have used its findings to help tailor agency-specific solutions as well as broader initiatives across government.




On Food Safety


In 2007, GAO added the federal oversight of food safety to GAO’s high-risk list because 15 agencies collectively administer at least 30 food-related laws. Since then, the largest food-borne outbreak in the last 10 years was linked to Salmonella in fresh produce. Also, high levels of imported foods underscore the urgency to revamp this system. About 15 percent of the overall U.S. food supply is imported, as is about 60 percent of fresh fruits and vegetables and over 80 percent of seafood. In addition, more of the population—including older adults, children, immune-compromised individuals, and pregnant women—is increasingly susceptible to food-borne illnesses.


What remains to be done

GAO recommends that the President in the short term reconvene the President’s Council on Food Safety and in the long term consider alternative structures for the oversight of food safety. The executive branch should develop a results-oriented governmentwide performance plan to help ensure agencies’ goals are complementary and to help decision makers balance trade-offs when resource allocation and restructuring decisions are made. Congress should consider commissioning the National Academy of Sciences or a blue ribbon panel to conduct a detailed analysis of alternative food safety organizational structures and enact comprehensive, uniform, and risk-based food safety legislation.

GAO Report - Food Safety

Here is the summary from the Sept. 26 GAO report about food safety and FDA oversight of produce:


In recent years, both domestic and imported produce have been linked to reported outbreaks of foodborne illness. Contamination in produce is of particular concern because produce is often consumed raw. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has primary responsibility for ensuring the safety of both domestic and imported fresh produce. GAO was asked to examine (1) the resources FDA has spent on fresh produce safety and how it has allocated those resources, (2) the effectiveness of FDA's actions to oversee fresh produce safety, and (3) the extent to which FDA's planned actions to enhance fresh produce oversight address identified challenges. For this review, GAO analyzed FDA spending data and estimates and FDA activities data, reviewed FDA plans, and interviewed FDA officials and others.
While FDA has considered fresh produce safety a priority for many years, resource constraints and other work--including counterterrorism efforts and unplanned events such as foodborne illness outbreaks--have caused FDA to delay key produce safety activities. FDA has no formal program devoted exclusively to fresh produce and has not consistently and reliably tracked its fresh produce spending. Based on FDA estimates, FDA spent at least $20 million and 130 staff years on fresh produce in fiscal year 2007--or about 3 percent of its food safety dollars and 4 percent of its food safety staff years. In addition, FDA had few staff dedicated solely to fresh produce safety. Moreover, FDA acknowledged that it has not yet been able to conduct certain fresh produce work crucial to understanding the incidence of contamination of produce by pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7 or Salmonella, because it has lacked the resources to either fund its extramural research grant program or perform some critical research internally. Finally, FDA delayed issuing final fresh-cut produce guidance at least 6 years because it had to shift staff to counterterrorism and outbreak investigation work. FDA has provided limited oversight of domestic and imported fresh produce. For example, while FDA has issued guidance for industry on recommended practices for reducing the risk of contamination during the processing of fresh-cut produce, it has not issued regulations requiring firms to take action to prevent contamination, even though some industry groups would like it to do so. FDA's intervention efforts have also been limited. Specifically, domestic fresh produce firms were inspected infrequently. Furthermore, FDA examined less than 1 percent of the 7.6 million fresh produce lines imported from fiscal years 2002 through 2007. Finally, FDA has improved some elements of its emergency response by, for example, partnering with California on outbreak investigations. However, it faces challenges in tracing an outbreak involving fresh produce back to its source because produce is highly perishable and may no longer be available for testing. Also, when product is available, it may be unlabeled or mixed in packages containing products from multiple sources. FDA has proposed changes through its Food Protection Plan that could significantly enhance its fresh produce oversight. However, the agency is still in the planning stages for several enhancements and has not provided specific information on strategies and resources, making it difficult to assess the likelihood of success. To help prevent contamination, FDA plans to update its existing guidance on good agricultural practices and regulations on current good manufacturing practice for food, and has identified a need for explicit authority to issue preventive safety regulations for high-risk foods and enhanced access to records. To enhance intervention efforts, FDA plans to use more rigorous risk-based criteria to target domestic firm inspections and is testing a new import screening software tool. To improve response efforts, FDA is examining best practices for tracing contaminated foods to their source.

GAO Report - Port Security

Here is the link to the May 27 GAO report titled "U.S. Customs and Border Protection Has Enhanced Its Partnership with Import Trade Sectors, but Challenges Remain in Verifying Security Practices"

From the GAO Highlights page:

Why GAO Did This Study
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is responsible for ensuring the security of cargo containers shipped into the United States. To strike a balance between security and commerce, CBP oversees the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, or C-TPAT program. As part of this program, CBP aims to secure the supply chain—the flow of goods from manufacturers to retailers—through partnerships with international trade companies. Member companies agree to allow CBP to validate their security practices and, in exchange, they are awarded benefits, such as reduced scrutiny of their cargo. In 2005, GAO reviewed the C-TPAT program and noted operational challenges. For this report, GAO was asked to assess the progress CBP has made since 2005 in (1) improving its benefit award policies for C-TPAT members, (2) addressing challenges in validating members’ security practices, and (3) addressing management and staffing challenges. To perform this work, GAO analyzed a nonprobability sample of completed validations; reviewed annual, human capital, and strategic plans; and held discussions with CBP officials.

What GAO Recommends
GAO is recommending that CBP improve its electronic validation instrument, improve the validation process, enhance its records management system, and establish performance measures for improving supply chain security. CBP concurred with each of the recommendations.