Dick Durbin Reacts To Announced Food Safety Agreement With China

December 11, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) issued the following statement today, in response to the announcement that the United States has reached an agreement with China on the safety of food imports.

“I am pleased the Bush Administration and the Chinese government have reached an agreement to protect American consumers and deal with the flood of unsafe items being imported from China. However, today's Memorandum of Understanding still falls short in a number of critical areas.”

“Today’s agreement applies to a tiny fraction of the food we import from China. And while it can be expanded, it doesn’t cover nearly enough products to restore our confidence in Chinese goods. The risk-based model on which the new food inspection system is based is sound; we simply should broaden the list of designated products that should be inspected before they are placed on supermarket shelves.”

“The agreement improves access by FDA inspectors to Chinese facilities, but it does not guarantee that access and does not specify the number of U.S. inspectors the Chinese will allow. It also raises questions about the latitude our U.S. inspectors will be given in conducting inspections of suspect facilities in China. It is important that once a tainted product is traced back to a production facility our inspectors be granted full unrestricted access and that we have a sufficient number of safety officials in place to deal with the problem.”

“The agreement also creates a standard for timely reporting of contaminated goods. But I do question why FDA inspectors need 48 hours to report on contamination abroad, when they’re required to do so in 24 hours at home. The standard should be consistent with current U.S. reporting standards.”

“Whether this agreement actually succeeds in protecting consumers will depend on how committed the Bush Administration is to providing the necessary resources in their budget -- the money, the inspectors and the system upgrades necessary to implement the plan. Just two weeks ago, the FDA’s Science Board released a report detailing how under-funding of the FDA is jeopardizing the agency’s ability to protect the American food supply. Adding these new responsibilities cannot be done without additional funding and we must consider responsible ways -- such as a modest fee on imported goods -- to provide the necessary money for these critical tasks.”

“I hope Secretary Leavitt will continue to press the Chinese government to expand on the positive reforms announced today. In the meantime, our government should do its part to ensure that the food sold in America is safe before it hits store shelves by passing comprehensive food safety legislation and ensuring an appropriate funding level.”

Source: Senator Dick Durbin

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