July 4, 1998

THE PRESIDENT CALLS FOR FULL FUNDING FOR FOOD SAFETY INITIATIVE AND PASSAGE OF VITAL FOOD SAFETY LEGISLATION July 4, 1998

EMBARGOED UNTIL July 4, 1998, 10:00am EDT
 
               THE PRESIDENT CALLS FOR FULL FUNDING FOR FOOD
                       SAFETY INITIATIVE AND PASSAGE
                     OF VITAL FOOD SAFETY LEGISLATION
                               July 4, 1998
 
In his weekly radio address, the President will call for full funding of
the food safety initiative in his FY99 budget and for passage of two vital
pieces of  legislation to improve the safety of this nation's food supply
into the 21st Century.
 
Food Safety Initiative.  The President's FY99 budget includes a request for
$101 million to improve the safety of the nation's food supply.  These
resources will support a variety of measures including: hiring additional
FDA inspectors to examine the safety of our nation's fruits and vegetables,
both domestic and imported; developing new ways for federal inspectors to
detect food-borne illnesses in meat and poultry and determine the source of
contamination; improving educational outreach on proper food handling; and
expanding our early warning system to help detect and respond to outbreaks
of foodborne illnesses.
 
Congress has so far failed to provide the resources this important
initiative requires. The House-passed Agriculture Appropriations bill
provided only $16.8 million of the Administration's requested increase for
USDA and FDA, while the Senate Committee-passed bill provided only $2.6
million.  The President will call on Congress to meet his budget request
for these measures, which are critical to the safety of the food consumed
by America?s families.
 
Enhanced FDA Oversight for Imported Foods.  The President will call on
Congress to pass food safety legislation, introduced by Senators Milkulski
and Kennedy and Reps. Eshoo and Pallone, that gives the FDA greater
authority over imported foods.  This legislation will ensure that the FDA
halts imports of fruits, vegetables, and other food products that do not
meet U.S. food safety requirements or that do not provide the same level of
protection as is required for U.S. products.  The legislation also enables
the FDA to halt imports from a country or facility that refuses to allow
FDA inspections.  This legislation gives FDA authority that is comparable
to USDA's existing authority to prevent the importation of unsafe meat and
poultry.
 
Mandatory Recall and Civil Penalties for Unsafe Meat and Poultry.    The
President also will call on Congress to pass the Food Safety Enforcement
Enhancement Act, sponsored by Senators Harkin, Daschle, Johnson, and Leahy,
which gives USDA the ability to assess civil fines and to order mandatory
recalls of unsafe meat and poultry products.  Currently, the USDA can
respond to food safety violations only by bringing criminal actions or
withdrawing inspections; all recalls are done on a voluntary basis and no
civil penalties are available.  This new legislation will give USDA
additional enforcement tools to prevent consumers from ingesting and
becoming ill from dangerous meat and poultry.
 

This is a mirror of the White House press release, July 4, 1998 from the <http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/html/briefroom.html> White House Briefing Room.