Bush Creates Import Safety Panel

[RamboLiberal]

Source: SFGate.com/AP

President Bush on Wednesday established a high-level government panel to recommend steps to guarantee the safety of food and other products shipped into the United States and to improve U.S. policing of those imports. The White House denied the effort was aimed primarily at China.

The president was to meet later Wednesday with his new Import Safety Working Group. The panel will be chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt.

"The administration is concerned about the safety of imported products that Americans eat and use and we'll start working on concrete steps to address whatever problems they may uncover," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.

The Food and Drug Administration's ability to monitor the nation's food supply has come under sharp criticism from Congress and others amid a string of high-profile cases of foodborne illness, including E. coli-tainted spinach and salmonella-contaminated peanut butter and snack foods, as well as concerns about drug-laced, farmed fish imported from China.

"This is not a slap at China," said Snow when asked if he thought China would be offended by Bush's action. "This is in fact a normal piece of business. We get food imports from 150 countries around the world. It's important to monitor them all."



Read more: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/07/18/national/w074429D54.DTL

[Raven]

1. When you haven't a clue about what to do or you really don't want to do anything,

set up a high level government advisory panel.

[Robbien]

2. A panel full of GOPers whose final recommendations will be to give

more money to GOPer corporations for "quality control". No regs enforcing that "quality control", just more taxpayer dollars to fund corporate bottom lines.

[denverbill]

3. BUT WHAT ABOUT DANGEROUS REIMPORTED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS FROM CANADA!!

The Chinese markets are all well-regulated, but those Canadians are always adulterating their pre-packaged medicines and they obviously can't be trusted! That's why we need to maintain the ban on re-importation of prescription drugs from Canada.

Food from China or other third-world countries is clearly much safer than drugs from Canada!

[aquart]

4. Gosh, we're all terribly impressed.

[Javaman]

5. sooooooooo is this the "FBI" for the FDA??? nt

[grytpype]

6. Finally, he does something constructive.

Let's see if they don't fuck it up.

[MichiganVote]

8. Oh wow. A panel. Yeah, that's heavy. Not! Pure window dressing.

[Kagemusha]

7. Let's try: the FDA not closing half its labs.

Can we start there?

How about requesting additional funds from Congress if they're needed? It's important, so why not?

[murielm99]

9. We don't need no stinking panel.

We have the FDA. Give them the teeth to do their jobs.

Panel schmanel.

[radfringe]

10. I think the panel should start

by personally sampling all the products - they can have a buffet