Hillary Jumps on COOL Bandwagon

[Oldtimer]

Hillary Clinton: Clinton Calls on Senate Leaders to Implement Country of Origin Labeling as Food Safety Scares Continue



Source: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton

Thu, 07/12/2007

via All American Patriots



Senator Says Recent Food Import Scares and FDA Ban on Chinese Fish Imports Mean Country of Origin Labeling Must be Mandated Immediately

July 11, 2007 -- Washington, DC – In the wake of recent scares about imported food and feed products, and the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) alert concerning imports of certain seafood from China, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today called on her Senate colleagues to implement Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) as soon as possible.


Funding for the full implementation of COOL has been delayed multiple times in recent Republican Congresses, despite its capacity to ensure greater consumer confidence and increase food safety protocol in America. The 2002 Farm Bill mandated a County of Origin labeling effort but to date, the program has only been put in place for seafood. Consideration of the 2007 Farm Bill is set to take place in Congress soon.



"The recent scares about food and feed products from overseas make Country of Origin labels more important than ever. Congress mandated that we impose County of Origin Labeling over five years ago. It is about time we had a system in place that allows consumers to know exactly where their food and produce is coming from and helps our local farmers promote their own home-grown products," Senator Clinton said. "Country of Origin Labeling makes sense from both a food safety and an economic perspective and consumers like it. It should be implemented immediately in the same way for meats, fruits, vegetables and peanuts as the 2002 Farm Bill intended."

Senator Clinton also recently outlined her priorities for the 2007 Farm Bill and called for action to force the USDA to properly implement COOL. The Senator also called for oversight hearings to ensure that the true letter of the law is expressed in its final implementation.



Following the recent food and feed product import scares, Senator Clinton urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to account for their apparent failures to test, track and monitor food and feed materials coming from overseas and called on them to develop and implement a national food safety strategy. In a letter to the heads of the FDA and the USDA, Senator Clinton called for a comprehensive and integrated monitoring and regulation plan to ensure the safety of the nation's food supply.



Senator Clinton has also joined with Senator Frank R. Lautenberg to call for creation of a multi-agency food safety task force to report to Congress what changes in law and regulations are needed to ensure the safety of our food supply.



A copy of Senator Clinton's letter follows –



The Honorable Harry Reid

Majority Leader

United States Senate

S 221

Washington, D.C. 20510



The Honorable Mitch McConnell

Minority Leader

United States Senate

S 230

Washington, D.C. 20510



The Honorable Tom Harkin

Chairman

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry

United States Senate

R 328A

Washington, D.C. 20510



The Honorable Saxby Chambliss

Ranking Member

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry

United States Senate

R 328A

Washington, D.C. 20510



Dear Majority Leader Reid, Minority Leader McConnell, Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Chambliss:



Recent headlines have focused the attention of the nation on our increasing reliance on worldwide sources for our consumer products. The United States' import and export markets have worked to increase an already growing global market for products of all varieties including electronics, automobiles, clothing and very significantly, agriculture and food products.



As the United States approaches a trade deficit in total agricultural products and in the light of recent imported food supply scares, I ask for a greater commitment by Congress to establish final and appropriate implementation of mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL).



Clear designations and easy access to information regarding the origin of our food supply are essential to American consumers when making the important decisions on the food that our families eat. An ever increasing supply of imported food products and the failure of the government to adequately inspect food products leave the consumer with little or no information on which to make these critical decisions on food safety. COOL can provide American consumers with sound information on which to base their food choices.



Although consumers already receive country of origin information for many domestic and international products, food products, with the exception of seafood, are not among them. The 2002 Farm Bill mandated the establishment of COOL for food products. The burdensome, complicated and expensive implementation rules written by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reflect the agency's opposition to COOL. USDA is the agency obligated to implement the law and has unfortunately failed to do so.


Recent consumer polls and surveys repeatedly report that more than 3 of every 4 respondents want country-of-origin labeling. Many say they would be willing to pay more for food products if that information was provided. Given that American consumers want to know where their food comes from and domestic producers want to differentiate their products from imports, COOL should be a priority and its implementation endorsed by Congress as soon as possible.



I ask that you support full funding for USDA to move forward in drafting a proposed rule and that you urge USDA to cease in its obstruction of COOL so that a workable implementation rule will be crafted by the department. The rule should be manageable and affordable for producers and should aim to follow the original intent of Congress.


Additionally, I ask that you move to encourage the immediate implementation of COOL and that the Senate address the broader issue of food safety in the time remaining in the 110th Congress.



Sincerely yours,



Hillary Rodham Clinton



Source: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton



allamericanpatriots.com

 

[Beef11]

I don't know what to say. I don't think i've ever agreed with Hellary before.

 

[skcatlman]

Quit whining and moaning and get COOL implemented, what is the hold up. Why if it is such a good thing for US cattlemen is it taking so long. Next issue feed grain prices. they will have more of an effect on calf prices this fall than COOL anyways. Maybe instead of wasting money on COOL programing the government should spend some money on fixing roads and bridges. :roll:

 

[vs_cattle]

Quit whining and moaning and get COOL implemented, what is the hold up. Why if it is such a good thing for US cattlemen is it taking so long. Next issue feed grain prices. they will have more of an effect on calf prices this fall than COOL anyways. Maybe instead of wasting money on COOL programing the government should spend some money on fixing roads and bridges. :roll:

Thats a low blow lol :lol:

 

[Beef11]

Maybe instead of wasting money on COOL programing the government should spend some money on fixing roads and bridges.

By "the goverment" do you mean The US goverment or the Canadian Goverment?

 

[skcatlman]

In regaurds to the COOL the US is wasting money and time better spent else where is my point, but that is par for the course for any goverment they can usally come up with a program that is a waste of time but comforts the electorate. How much money has been wasted since that bidge in min. first failed a saftey inspection by reports it failed in 1990.

 

[vs_cattle]

every great country has its flaws

 

[Outrigger2]

the gov't doesn't need to have their hand in everything.JMO

 

[vs_cattle]

the gov't doesn't need to have their hand in everything.JMO

I think thats how alot of people fill but we really cant do much

 

[Oldtimer]

This will be the Thanksgiving Dinner of our Grandkids if we keep letting Globalism have a free run...

Somehow Sam Elliot saying "Fwyed Rat-Its whats for Dinner" just doesn't do it for me.....

I wonder if there is a Chinese version of Sam :???:

 

[Beef11]

every great country has its flaws

Are biggest flaws will try to vote away what makes our country great. Lets look ahead more than aweek so we don't end up eating rat.

 

[auctionboy]

Quit whining and moaning and get COOL implemented, what is the hold up. Why if it is such a good thing for US cattlemen is it taking so long. Next issue feed grain prices. they will have more of an effect on calf prices this fall than COOL anyways. Maybe instead of wasting money on COOL programing the government should spend some money on fixing roads and bridges. :roll:

I think you miss the point. The programm is not to increase calf prices or insure American beef it is food safty and as for agreeing with Hilary it is hard to make food safty a particen issue so it is okay this one time

 

[Oldtimer]

More food imports from Mexico, not China, turned away
In past year, inspectors found salmonella, other defects in goods entering the U.S.


By CHASE DAVIS
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Despite widespread alarm over tainted seafood from China making its way to American consumers, federal inspectors during the past year have turned away even more food shipments from Mexico — Texas' largest trading partner, according to a review by the Houston Chronicle.

Citing salmonella, prohibited pesticides and other defects, FDA inspectors refused more than 1,330 Mexican food shipments from July 2006 through last month, including fresh vegetables, processed foods and dietary supplements, according to inspection records from the Food and Drug Administration.

The refusals represent a small share of the roughly $198 billion in goods imported from the country last year, much of which entered through Texas trade hubs such as Laredo and Houston.

As the country's primary trade gateway to Mexico, Texas receives nearly 2 million shipments each year, according to FDA records. But most of that cargo is not inspected by hand — only 1 to 2 percent, according to FDA estimates.

"If it's a commodity that has no history of violations, it'll probably pass right on through," said Dan Sowards, food safety officer for the Texas Department of State Health Services, which regulates distribution centers that often house imported food. "What the FDA does is a snapshot."

Though FDA refusals account for less than 1 percent of goods entering the country each year, they provide a glimpse into what lawmakers have called an overburdened system for inspecting U.S. food and drug imports.

"If you look at the numbers, it's China and Mexico and India," said U.S. Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, whose district includes the Port of Houston. China, which exports less food to the U.S. than Mexico, had about 930 food shipments rejected between July 2006 and July 2007.

"But there's a lack of resources to do more inspections," Green said. "We need to point this out."


Agency criticized
Experts and lawmakers argue that a lack of inspection resources, paired with a growing demand for imports, have exposed more Americans to harm from contaminated food. Food-borne illnesses hospitalize more than 300,000 Americans and kill about 5,000 each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In House subcommittee hearings last month, Green and other lawmakers criticized the agency for proposing to close several product testing labs amid budgetary concerns — a plan the FDA has since suspended.

"Instead of laying off microbiologists and chemists, we need to be sure we keep them and expand them," Green said in an interview. "If necessary, if we want to be sure what we're buying is safe, we might need to put an inspection fee on it."

FDA spokeswoman Catherine McDermott said that although inspectors have been stretched thin, "inspections are thoroughly carried out."

Tainted Mexican imports have made headlines several times in recent years. In 2002, the FDA banned the import of Mexican cantaloupes after they were linked to salmonella outbreaks.


Appearances count
More recently, in 2004, certain candies were found to contain dangerous amounts of lead, prompting several state investigations, including one in Texas.

Both products were among the cargo refused during the last year. So too were dirty peppers, salmonella-infected shrimp, and turnip greens treated with prohibited pesticides, according to the FDA records.

In all, inspectors turned away 1,724 Mexican shipments, more than three-fourths of which were foods or food ingredients. Another 17 percent were cosmetics or pharmaceuticals, such as prescription drugs, deodorant and lotions. The rest mostly were medical supplies and electronic devices.

Products were most often refused because they were deemed "filthy," meaning they appeared dirty, putrid or decomposed.

Unapproved drugs also were common refusal targets, as was produce treated with banned pesticides.

Many countries had much higher refusal rates than Mexico based on their quantity of U.S. exports. For example, the Dominican Republic, which exported $4.5 billion to the U.S. last year, saw 895 shipments turned away, mostly for pesticides.

China accounted for the highest number of total refusals with 2,031, but less than half were for food products. The country's exports have attracted attention several times this year, when additives in pet food ingredients were linked to the deaths of several animals, and when a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze turned up in some exported toothpastes.

Despite the refusals, long-standing commercial partnerships and refined production practices have made many Mexican goods safer than their Chinese counterparts, said Mike Doyle, director of the University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety, which works with the food industry to improve product safety.

Food production standards in Mexico are "as good as or often better than what we've had in the U.S.," Doyle said. "It depends on the company. ... There are parts of Mexico that would be equivalent to China."

In response to Chronicle inquiries, the Mexican Embassy in Washington released a statement saying the country continues to work with U.S. officials to ensure the quality of its food exports.

[email protected]

 

[Horse Guy]

Hillary should know all about it. When they were running Arkansaw they exported(sold) HIV and hepatitus invected blood from prisoners and sold it to the Canadian government which killed a lot of Canadians.