Administration Announces Import Safety Plan
News Date November 14, 2007
The administration's Interagency Working Group on Import Safety released its action plan on November 6 which outlines recommendations to improve the safety of imports entering the United States. President Bush established the panel last July to identify ways to further increase the safety of imports entering the United States.
The working group is chaired by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt and comprises twelve federal departments and agencies. The action plan contains fourteen broad recommendations and fifty action steps to better protect American consumers and enhance the import safety. Some of the recommendations will be implemented through agency rule-making, but others will require Congressional approval. For example, the plan proposes the give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandatory recall authority for food products.
Generally, the plan proposes to replace the current approach to import safety where inspections are made at the border with a risk-based and prevention-focused model. It proposes a stronger certification process by giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) greater authority to require that certain high risk foods from foreign producers meet U.S. standards in order to export to this country. Voluntary certification would be encouraged for foreign manufacturers of other products.
Highlights of the action plan include: (1) adopting best practices to improve import safety and providing incentives to importers to maintain the highest safety practices for products that carry greater risks; (2) exchanging real-time product and compliance data on each import transaction; (3) increasing the U.S. presence overseas and increasing training for foreign inspection agencies; (4) giving new authority to import safety and inspection agencies to strengthen their standards; (5) strengthening penalties for unsafe products.
More information on the Import Safety Working Group and the action plan is available at http://www.importsafety.gov. (Contact: Charlie Ingram)