House Lawmakers Act to Stop Senate-Passed Measure to Repeal Transfer of Catfish Inspections
The Senate on May 25 by a vote of 55-43 passed a measure (here) that would prevent inspections of Siluriformes fish and related products from transferring from the Food and Drug Administration to the Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection…
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Service (FSIS), currently set for completion on Sept. 1, 2017. But 21 House lawmakers wrote a letter (here) to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., requesting that chamber not consider the legislation. They said imported Siluriformes catfish and related products significantly threaten the American public. “Unfortunately, the FDA inspection regime was inadequate and conducted inspections on a mere 0.2 percent of imported catfish species,” the letter says. “Since USDA already inspects farm-raised meats including foreign beef, pork and poultry, Congress decided to apply the same standards to farm-raised catfish so that these products receive comprehensive inspection.” FSIS began the transitional period on April 15, during which it is selecting a subset of Siluriformes fish and fish product imports for reinspection (see 1605040041).