HR 2581 IH

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to ensure the safety of imported meat and poultry products.

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to ensure the safety of imported meat and poultry products.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Ensuring the Safety of Imported Meat and Poultry Act of 1999'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:

(1) Prior to 1994 the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act required that imported meat and poultry be subject to the same safety standards as domestically produced meat and poultry.

(2) Article 4 of the World Trade Organization's Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (`SPS Agreement')--which was negotiated as part of the Uruguay Round of Trade Agreements--requires that a country permit imports of food if the country determines that the foreign inspection system provides a level of safety equivalent to the country's domestic standards.

(3) Congress, when it ratified the SPS Agreement in 1994, amended the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to provide that foreign meat and poultry may be imported into this country if the Secretary of Agriculture determines that the foreign inspection system provides a level of protection equivalent to that achieved under United States requirements.

(4) The Secretary of Agriculture then determined that those countries which had been permitted to export meat and poultry to the United States prior to 1994 had an equivalent inspection system because prior to 1994 their inspection system was the same as that used in the United States.

(5) In July 1996 the United States Department of Agriculture issued its final regulations for a new system of meat and poultry inspection called the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (`HACCP') program. This new program was designed to improve the safety of meat and poultry and for domestic plants was implemented in phases: on January 27, 1997, all domestic meat and poultry slaughter and process plants had to have in place standard operating procedures for sanitation, and the slaughter plants had to begin testing for generic E. coli; beginning January 26, 1998, domestic meat and poultry plants employing at least 500 persons had to establish the entire HACCP system and meet performance standards for salmonella, with government inspectors taking samples and those samples being analyzed for salmonella in government laboratories, beginning January 25, 1999, small domestic plants had to implement the rest of the HACCP system.

(6) In the summer of 1996 the Department of Agriculture asked foreign governments to supply sufficient information so that it could determine whether their inspection system is equivalent to the new HACCP requirements.

(7) In 1999 the Department of Agriculture is continuing to allow imports of meat and poultry from 32 countries even though it has admitted it does not yet have enough information from any of these foreign countries to determine whether its inspection system is actually equivalent to the new HACCP salmonella testing requirements that large domestic plants have had to comply with since January 26, 1998, and small plants have had to comply with since January 25, 1999.

(8) The Department of Agriculture publishes a quarterly report, which it puts on its website, which lists all the domestic plants that are not in compliance with the HACCP program; however, the Department of Agriculture does not publicly reveal any foreign firm that it believes is not in compliance even though the Department of Agriculture officials conduct audits of foreign meat and poultry plants.

(9) At the United States border the Department of Agriculture takes a `random' sample of about 20 percent of all foreign meat and poultry, and its public quarterly report shows the amount of imported meat and poultry refused entry at the United States border by the Department's inspectors. The public report does not, however, give the rejection rate by country of origin.

(10) United States consumers have a right to be informed about the safety of imported meat and poultry from specific countries.

SEC. 3. END OF GRACE PERIOD FOR IMPORTED MEAT AND POULTRY.

(a) FEDERAL MEAT INSPECTION ACT- Section 20 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 620) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(i)(1) The Secretary shall ban all imports of carcasses of meat or meat products from any country for which the Secretary has not yet determined, based on information supplied by the exporting country, that the foreign inspection system actually provides at least the same level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection achieved under United States requirements with regard to all inspection, building construction standards, and all other provisions of this Act and regulations issued under this Act (including the requirement that salmonella samples be taken by government officials and analyzed in government laboratories). This ban shall take effect within 6 months of passage of this Act for those standards and regulations

`(2) The Secretary may extend once for a period not to exceed 1 year the date upon which the ban in paragraph (1) shall take effect if the Secretary determines that this extension poses no risk to the health of the public. The Secretary shall transmit to Congress and publish in the Federal Register at least 60 days prior to the Secretary's final decision all reasons for the Secretary's proposed decision to extend the date. The Secretary shall not make a final decision on this extension without taking into account the comments received.'.

(b) POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT- Section 17 of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 466) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(e)(1) The Secretary shall ban all imports of poultry or parts or products of poultry from any country for which the Secretary has not yet determined, based on information supplied by the exporting country, that the foreign inspection system actually provides at least the same level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection achieved under United States requirements with regard to all inspection, building construction standards, and all other provisions of this Act and regulations issued under this Act (including the requirement that salmonella samples be taken by government officials and inspected in government laboratories). This ban shall take effect within 6 months of passage of this Act for those standards and regulations in effect on the date of passage of this Act and within 1 year for those standards and regulations issued after passage of this Act.

`(2) The Secretary may extend once for a period not to exceed 1 year the date upon which the ban in paragraph (1) shall take effect if the Secretary determines that this extension poses no risk to the health of the public. The Secretary shall transmit to Congress and publish in the Federal Register at least 60 days prior to the Secretary's final decision all reasons for the Secretary's proposed decision to extend the date. The Secretary shall not make a final decision on this extension without taking into account the comments received.'.

SEC. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN DECISIONS ON EQUIVALENCY.

In any determination by the Secretary of Agriculture--whether or not it is promulgated as a rule--under either section 20 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 620) or section 17 of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 466) on whether an inspection system of any foreign country actually provides at least the same level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection achieved under United States requirements with regard to all inspection, building construction standards, and regulations issued by the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary shall, at least 90 days before the Secretary's final determination--

(1) publish a notice in the Federal Register that identifies the basis for that proposed determination; and

(2) make available for public inspection the entire justification provided by the foreign government to the Secretary (translated into English if not originally in English), along with the scientific analysis of that information that was conducted by the Secretary.

The Secretary shall provide opportunity for the public to comment on the proposed determination and shall not issue a final determination without taking into account the comments received.

SEC. 5. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION ON SAFETY OF IMPORTED MEAT AND POULTRY.

Every 3 months the Secretary of Agriculture shall publish in the Federal Register--

(1) the name and location of any plant exporting meat or poultry to the United States that the Secretary believes is not in complete compliance with a foreign inspection system that the Secretary has determined provides a level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection at least equal to that provided in the United States; and

(2) the rejection rate by country of origin of foreign meat and poultry inspected by the Secretary at the United States border.