Gov Watchdog Joins Call for Immediate Reform Posted by Reggie at 02/08/07 10:10 AM

The General Accounting office (GAO), Congress’ analytical watchdog arm, added the nation’s food safety system to its list of “high risk” areas in need of immediate attention from Congress and the Executive Branch.

The GAO conducts analytical reviews of all government functions and in 1990 developed a system for identifying the greatest threats to public health and wellbeing, the economy and citizen confidence in government and the democratic process. The list is presented to each new Congress. Food safety was one of three new items included in the 2007 update to the 110th Congress.

The new designation is a response to several persistent and a few new problems facing the nation's food supply which are cited in the GAO report and which Consumers Union and others have long recognized as critical to address. They include the following:

• The current system, having evolved over time in response to specific problems, is fragmented among 15 different agencies and falls under a more than 30 different laws... This patchwork directly impacts the government’s ability to strategically inspect food production and to respond quickly to outbreaks of contaminated food.
• Existing statutes give agencies different regulatory and enforcement authorities the inspection programs are inconsistent in frequency, methodology and funding.
• Food recalls are voluntary and federal agencies responsible for food safety, with the exception of infant formula, the agencies have no authority to compel companies to carry out recalls
• Each year, about 76 million people contract a food-borne illness in the United States; about 325,000 require hospitalization; and about 5,000 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Our experience with 9/11 highlights the urgency of these challenges in light of agriculture’s vulnerability to terrorisms and other intentional misconduct. Whether accidental or deliberate, contamination of food or the introduction of disease to food animals or crops jeopardizes consumer confidence in the government's ability to ensure the safety of the U.S. food supply.
• Agriculture generates more than $1 trillion in economic activity annually, or about 13 percent of the gross domestic product. The value of U.S. agricultural exports exceeded $68 billion in fiscal year 2006.
• The California produce industry estimates the recent E. coli outbreaks, resulted in losses from $37 to $74 million.
• Some improvements were made to FDA’s seafood inspection system since the 2001 GAO report, however, much more needs to be done, especially in light of increased foreign imports

The GAO has been invited to testify before the House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee on February 8th.

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