Lawmaker, Industry Members Rail Against Agency Transfer of Catfish Inspections
House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts, R-Pa., and industry officials during a Dec. 7 hearing railed against the federal government’s shift of inspections of catfish and related products from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the…
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Agriculture Department’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), according to a press release (here). The regulations include requirements for foreign exporter countries to demonstrate their inspection systems are equivalent to the U.S. system (see 1511270024). While the transfer was set for completion on Sept. 1, 2017, FSIS started screening catfish imports in April (see 1605040041). The FDA and industry are doing a better job than ever before on stopping infected catfish from being sold, Kimberly Gorton, CEO of seafood distributor Slade Gorton, told the subcommittee. “The USDA program is a complete waste of tax dollars,” Gorton said. “Our government is already squeezing job-creating small businesses, and this program is a needless, costly and duplicative regulation that burdens my company and all other seafood companies.” Pitts said catfish is an “extremely low risk” product, and said an exclusive USDA catfish inspection program is unnecessary and will siphon resources away from inspecting high-risk seafood. Despite pressure from the Energy and Commerce Committee (see 1606230051), House leadership has not brought up the Senate-passed S.J. Res. 28 for a vote. The bill would prevent the completion of the transfer of catfish inspections from the FDA to USDA.