FPAA opposes plan to transfer inspectors back to USDA
FPAA opposes plan to transfer inspectors back to USDA
WASHINGTON -- Some fresh fruit and vegetable companies have been pushing Congress to transfer import inspectors back to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but now a group of companies that import Mexican fresh fruits and vegetables say that such a move would be a mistake.
"Moving agriculture inspections back to USDA-APHIS would be a significant step backwards, again relegating agriculture inspections to second-class status at all ports of entry," said Lee Frankel, president of the Nogales, AZ- based Fresh Produce Association of the Americas. "At a time when the security of our nation at the border should be paramount, it makes no sense to engage in this disruptive and pointless move."
The latest House version of the farm bill would reverse the 2002 transfer of agriculture plant and disease inspections to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Some members of Congress favor the transfer after a General Accounting Office investigation found staffing shortages at ports of entry and other management problems with a program entrusted to protect the nation's fresh fruits and vegetables from foreign pests and diseases. Certain produce companies, which have had a historical relationship with APHIS inspectors, are said to favor keeping the program with USDA.
But FPAA said that the U.S. Customs & Border Protection turned its program around with an emphasis on better training and staffing levels. CBP has 30 percent more agriculture specialists on staff than when the inspection program was part of APHIS, and these inspectors are in 150 ports -- 20 more ports than were covered under APHIS, said FFPA.
"Things are better now from a scientific and practical viewpoint," said Mr. Frankel.
In letters to the U.S. Senate and House, Mr. Frankel said that inspectors now have a larger say in port operations through the creation of new senior positions for phytosanitary affairs, and inspections are more consistent because inspection priorities are now electronically transmitted to all ports.
This comes as the Food & Drug Administration is working on a new risk- based inspection system for foreign imports that it plans to announce in the next few weeks.
FDA wants to become more risk-focused by gathering more information from importers on their products and on the food-safety infrastructure of foreign countries, said FDA's David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food protection. The goal is to start the food-safety system overseas, not just at the nation's borders, he said.
In the meantime, the massive farm bill is scheduled to be marked up July 17 in the House Agriculture Committee and should reach the House floor by July 26. Specialty crop producers are raising issues with the committee's plan to split the farm bill into two bills, one with promised funding and the other built on reserve funds that may never appear.
"Although details of the chairman's proposal are not fully available, we are vehemently opposed to fracturing the farm bill into two separate pieces of legislation since this will not allow Congress to develop a farm policy that positively addresses the full breadth of agriculture, conservation and nutrition issues," the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, a national coalition of more than 110 specialty crop organizations, said in a statement. "This approach will make it difficult to enact legislation that reflects the needs of the specialty crop industry, which include pressing production, food, nutrition and research components."
"Moving agriculture inspections back to USDA-APHIS would be a significant step backwards, again relegating agriculture inspections to second-class status at all ports of entry," said Lee Frankel, president of the Nogales, AZ- based Fresh Produce Association of the Americas. "At a time when the security of our nation at the border should be paramount, it makes no sense to engage in this disruptive and pointless move."
The latest House version of the farm bill would reverse the 2002 transfer of agriculture plant and disease inspections to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Some members of Congress favor the transfer after a General Accounting Office investigation found staffing shortages at ports of entry and other management problems with a program entrusted to protect the nation's fresh fruits and vegetables from foreign pests and diseases. Certain produce companies, which have had a historical relationship with APHIS inspectors, are said to favor keeping the program with USDA.
But FPAA said that the U.S. Customs & Border Protection turned its program around with an emphasis on better training and staffing levels. CBP has 30 percent more agriculture specialists on staff than when the inspection program was part of APHIS, and these inspectors are in 150 ports -- 20 more ports than were covered under APHIS, said FFPA.
"Things are better now from a scientific and practical viewpoint," said Mr. Frankel.
In letters to the U.S. Senate and House, Mr. Frankel said that inspectors now have a larger say in port operations through the creation of new senior positions for phytosanitary affairs, and inspections are more consistent because inspection priorities are now electronically transmitted to all ports.
This comes as the Food & Drug Administration is working on a new risk- based inspection system for foreign imports that it plans to announce in the next few weeks.
FDA wants to become more risk-focused by gathering more information from importers on their products and on the food-safety infrastructure of foreign countries, said FDA's David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food protection. The goal is to start the food-safety system overseas, not just at the nation's borders, he said.
In the meantime, the massive farm bill is scheduled to be marked up July 17 in the House Agriculture Committee and should reach the House floor by July 26. Specialty crop producers are raising issues with the committee's plan to split the farm bill into two bills, one with promised funding and the other built on reserve funds that may never appear.
"Although details of the chairman's proposal are not fully available, we are vehemently opposed to fracturing the farm bill into two separate pieces of legislation since this will not allow Congress to develop a farm policy that positively addresses the full breadth of agriculture, conservation and nutrition issues," the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, a national coalition of more than 110 specialty crop organizations, said in a statement. "This approach will make it difficult to enact legislation that reflects the needs of the specialty crop industry, which include pressing production, food, nutrition and research components."
