October 11, 2007

 

US groups attack restrictions imposed on state-inspected meat

 

Agricultural groups are mounting fresh attacks on restrictions on shipping state-inspected meat across state lines as Washington debates the merits of changing the law. 

 

The law, made in the 1960s, bans sales and shipment of state-inspected meat and poultry across state lines, a law long despised by many small-scale producers.

 

Their grievance has now been taken up by the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, Tri State Neighbor, a newspaper in North Dakota reported.

 

Roger Johnson, president of the organisation and the North Dakota agriculture  commissioner, has criticised the restriction as outdated, punitive and senseless, the paper reported.

 

State inspections, by law, must meet or exceed federal inspection standards, he added.

 

Furthermore, foreign imported meat which were subject to far less rigorous safety inspection standards than state inspection programmes can be transported anywhere around the US, he stated.

 

Other food commodities inspected by state authorities milk, dairy products, fruit, vegetables, fish and shellfish are shipped across stateliness without prohibitions, he pointed out. These can even include bison, elk, venison, rabbit, pheasant and quail.

 

National Farmers Union (NFU) president Tom Buis agrees, adding that state inspection programmes ensure safe and high-quality meat products.

 

NFU has a long-standing policy supporting the elimination of the interstate ban and believes the legislation will increase competition and opportunities vital to small farms and businesses, he said.

   

The Tri State Neighbor reported Johnson as saying that a provision in the House version of the 2007 farm bill would eliminate the interstate ban, and similar legislation is being considered by the Senate.

Johnson added that state inspectors are trained under federal inspectors, and the plants are audited by USDA and have more oversight than federal plants.

 

Pound-for- pound, state-inspected meat products receive more hands-on inspection than federal (inspected) products, the paper reported him as saying. 

 

Johnson also pointed out that while USDA can only work in cooperation with the processor at federally-inspected plants, state-inspection programmes have the authority to order a recall.

 

This issue is less about food safety than about fairness, competition and opportunity for rural communities, the paper reported him as saying.