990705 Clinton Warns Importers to Clean Up Food Safety

Washington - Importers who ship spoiled or contaminated fish, fruit, cheese and other foods into the United States will soon face tougher penalties, President Clinton said.

Clinton said he ordered the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Customs to develop within 90 days a plan to fight unscrupulous importers by seizing or destroying shipments, stamping them as “rejected” and imposing stiff penalties.

“While there is no evidence that imported foods pose more of a risk than domestic foods and most importers comply with the applicable requirements, there are a few 'bad actor' importers who violate the rules and work to subvert the system,” Clinton said.

A series of food safety hearings held by Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine last year showed how a small number of importers deliberately shipped decomposed shrimp and repackaged spoiled food, often using U.S. ports of entry known to be understaffed.

In the few instances in which shippers were caught, the penalties were small and the tainted food was released.

The FDA has about 450 inspectors, who have been overwhelmed by a doubling of food imports during the past seven years. Fewer than two percent of imported fruits, vegetables and processed foods are inspected at the border by the FDA.

U.S. Customs agents also inspect incoming shipments of foods and other goods, but typically look only for illegal drugs.

Under federal law, meat and poultry are checked by inspectors who work for USDA.

Although most cases of food poisoning are not diagnosed by physicians, about 9,000 Americans die annually and tens of millions of others are sickened by bad food, according to estimates by the U.S. government.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer nutrition group, has documented American food poisoning outbreaks ranging from imports of fish from Thailand to strawberries from Mexico.

“The president has clearly landed a blow against those who would import contaminated food,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director of the center. “The knockout punch will be when Congress gives FDA the authority to go to foreign countries and inspect the producers before they can ship food to the U.S.”

A bill to significantly expand the FDA's authority and give it the power to inspect food production, processing and packaging in foreign countries was introduced last month by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat. It is opposed by food industry groups who contend it could jeopardize relationships with U.S. trading partners.

A Republican-backed food safety bill, introduced by Collins last month, would give the FDA more authority to block imports of tainted food but would not go as far as the Democratic legislation.

The White House plan for stricter enforcement measures at the border was praised by Carol Tucker Foreman, a former assistant secretary of agriculture.

The president has now “done just about all he can do” without new legislative power to ensure safe food imports, she said.

“The USDA has the authority to assure that imported meat and poultry are equivalent to that produced in the United States. We should have similar protection from other contaminated imported foods, especially fruits and vegetables, which we may eat raw,” Foreman said.

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