From the industry newsletter Agri-Pulse:
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman, D- Calif., told a March 11 hearing, "Our first goal should be to address the problems that plague this program where it currently sits. After we finish that job, we can consider whether a reorganization is necessary, and, if so, how to go about it." As a first step, he said that his committee would move "a strong food safety bill" in the next few months.
He hinted that he would draw from bills by Reps. Bart Stupak and John Dingell, both D-Mich., Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., Jim Costa, D-Calif., and Adam H. Putnam, R-Fla.
What does this mean to us? Well, the final bill that passes is going to be a patchwork of the many, many food safety bills currently in Congress. The bills listed here are:
- The Safe FEAST Act of 2009 (H.R.1332) by Costa & Putnam
- The Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2009 (H.R.759) by Dingell
- The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (H.R.875) by DeLauro
My recommendation if you want to take action: Email your representative and tell them you want any food safety bill that passes to protect small farms and businesses who do not sell across state lines from an undue regulatory burden. While small farms or businesses that sell locally are not immune from food safety problems, any problems they might cause would be limited to a local area, not spread out nationwide like the food safety disasters of the past several years. This is even more important if your rep is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. |
