Tag: import/export
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FDA Meetings to Target Imported Food Safety
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced its first public meeting to discuss implementation of import safety provisions recently enacted by the Food Safety Modernization Act. Titled “FDA Food Safety Modernization Act: Title III—A New Paradigm for Importers,” the March 29, 2011, meeting in Silver Spring, Maryland, seeks stakeholder input to develop regulations and guidance…
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U.S. Regulators to Scan Food Containers from Japan for Radiation
According to a news source, the Customs and Border Patrol will begin scanning shipping containers arriving in the United States from Japan for radiation, following the earthquake and tsunami that caused explosions at the country’s nuclear plants, releasing high levels of radiation into the atmosphere. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reportedly indicated that it…
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Federal Prosecutors Claim Veal Companies Cost Industry $500 Million
U.S. attorneys in New York have filed a complaint against three veal producers for allegedly exporting meat containing vertebral column to Japan, which had just reopened its borders to U.S. imports after a two-year ban over a bovine spongiform encephalopathy (“mad cow”) scare. United States v. Atl. Veal & Lamb LLC, No. 11-1034 (E.D.N.Y., filed…
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FSIS Proposes Catfish Inspection Rules
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a proposed rule that would address a 2008 Farm Bill mandate making catfish an amenable species under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and therefore requiring all domestic and imported catfish to undergo FSIS inspection. According to a February 18, 2011, press…
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Single-Method Test that Detects Nine Sweeteners Adopted as European Standard
The European Committee for Standardization has approved a single-test method that can detect nine different sweeteners and their dosages in drinks, and canned and bottled fruits. Developed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Center’s (JRC’s) Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, the method sets national standards for European Union (EU) member states, Croatia, Iceland, Norway,…
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APHIS Updates Avian Influenza Rules
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued an interim rule updating its highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) requirements for importing birds, poultry and hatching eggs. Because APHIS’s previous restrictions applied only to the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza, the new rule extends its purview to include any HPAI…
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Food & Water Watch Petitions to Remove China from Eligible Poultry-Exporters List
Food & Water Watch recently submitted a citizen petition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to remove China from the list of eligible processed-poultry exporters to the United States. Using a Freedom of Information Act request, the consumer watchdog claims to have found “serious mistakes” in the USDA…
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Jessica Leeder, “Honey laundering: The sour side of nature’s golden sweetener,” The Globe and Mail, January 5, 2011
“As crime sagas go, a scheme rigged by a sophisticated cartel of global traders has all the right blockbuster elements: clandestine movements of illegal substances through a network of co-operatives in Asia, a German conglomerate, jet-setting executives, doctored laboratory reports, high-profile takedowns and fearful turncoats,” opens Globe and Mail food reporter Jessica Leeder in this…