By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Citing the mounting number of smuggled or otherwise illegally imported food and agricultural products entering the nation’s marketplace, U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (D-Iowa) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) reintroduced to Congress on Feb. 12 what they are heralding as the first major bipartisan food bill.

The senators’ EAT SAFE (Ending Agricultural Threats: Safeguarding America’s Food for Everyone) Act seeks to address the problem through what Casey called “common sense measures to protect our food and agricultural supply.”

Grassley said the FDA does not have the resources to fully monitor all the threats against the nation’s food supply.

“This bill helps alleviate the threats from imported products and puts reliability into private lab testing,” Grassley said in a prepared statement. “The introduction of the EAT SAFE Act will get the seeds planted on what’s sure to be a comprehensive look at our nation’s food system.”

Beth Pellett Levine, a Grassley spokesperson, told Farm World the FDA and other agencies charged with food inspection are underfunded and overworked.

“We import a lot of things, and FDA and USDA must divide their resources in monitoring our growing food supply,” she said. “This bill authorizes more money for personnel, training and things like that.”

Specifically, Grassley and Casey’s legislation would authorize $25 million for FDA and USDA to hire additional personnel to detect and track smuggled food and ag products and fund food defense monitoring. It would also allow $1.7 million for food safety cross-training for DHS agricultural specialists, and $4.8 million for agriculture cross-training for DHS border patrol agents.

The bill also sets new standards for import inspection and testing along with public notification procedures. In addition, it reorganizes data-sharing procedures and establishes memorandums of understanding among agencies that collect data on food-borne pathogens, contaminants and illnesses.

Finally, $3.5 million would be allotted for programs to provide health providers and their patients with information on food-borne pathogens and illnesses.

Supporters of the EAT SAFE Act cite a September 2007 report issued by the President’s Interagency Working Group on Import Safety, which acknowledges that “aspects of our present import system must be strengthened to promote security, safety, and trade for the benefit of American consumers.”

Levine said the senators’ bill is “in committee” and would be taken up for debate in due time. “Food safety is something I know Congress intends to look at, so Sen. Grassley would hope (the bill) would be part of that debate when it does come up,” she said.
“There are a lot of things Congress has to do right now. Whenever food safety is brought forward is up to the majority.”