Vietnamese urge repeal of USDA catfish inspection
November 01, 2013 | 05:14 PM
The Vietnamese government has sent Secretary of State John Kerry and 17 members of Congress a letter urging them to use the farm bill to repeal the provision in the 2008 bill that would move catfish inspection from the Food and Drug Administration to the Agriculture Department.
The U.S. catfish industry pushed the measure on the grounds that FDA was not properly inspecting foreign catfish but the executive branch has never implemented the provision.
The letter was distributed by the National Fisheries Institute, a U.S. industry group that favors repeal of the provision.
“From Vietnam's perspective, this program is an unfair effort to create a barrier to pangasius exports to the United States,” the Vietnamese Foreign Affairs Minister Pham Binh Minh and Industry and Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang wrote in a joint letter.
“To begin, we believe that the food safety justification for this program is highly suspect. We note that the February 2011 USDA proposed regulation documents that only two illnesses attributable to catfish are reported in the United States every year,” the letter states. “The USDA regulation characterizes illnesses from U.S. and imported catfish as ‘uncommon events.’ The American Centers for Disease Control classifies catfish as a low risk food. This is not a food safety problem demanding the shift of regulation to the USDA.”
“The cordial and productive nature of U.S.-Vietnam relations today stems in no small part from the mutually beneficial trade between our two countries,” the letter continues.
“We understand that the USDA may have a final regulation in place late this year. If, despite the House of Representatives vote to repeal the USDA program this summer, the United States insists on putting the program into place, our government will have no choice but to consider available remedies ... We respectfully request that you consider these views as you continue to work towards enacting a farm bill,” the ministries wrote to Kerry and the legislators.
According to NFI, the letter was sent to:
The U.S. catfish industry pushed the measure on the grounds that FDA was not properly inspecting foreign catfish but the executive branch has never implemented the provision.
The letter was distributed by the National Fisheries Institute, a U.S. industry group that favors repeal of the provision.
“From Vietnam's perspective, this program is an unfair effort to create a barrier to pangasius exports to the United States,” the Vietnamese Foreign Affairs Minister Pham Binh Minh and Industry and Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang wrote in a joint letter.
“To begin, we believe that the food safety justification for this program is highly suspect. We note that the February 2011 USDA proposed regulation documents that only two illnesses attributable to catfish are reported in the United States every year,” the letter states. “The USDA regulation characterizes illnesses from U.S. and imported catfish as ‘uncommon events.’ The American Centers for Disease Control classifies catfish as a low risk food. This is not a food safety problem demanding the shift of regulation to the USDA.”
“The cordial and productive nature of U.S.-Vietnam relations today stems in no small part from the mutually beneficial trade between our two countries,” the letter continues.
“We understand that the USDA may have a final regulation in place late this year. If, despite the House of Representatives vote to repeal the USDA program this summer, the United States insists on putting the program into place, our government will have no choice but to consider available remedies ... We respectfully request that you consider these views as you continue to work towards enacting a farm bill,” the ministries wrote to Kerry and the legislators.
According to NFI, the letter was sent to:
- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, R-Nev.
- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
- Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.
- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.
- Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa
- Sen. John Hoven, D-N.D.
- Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
- Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.
- Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan.
- Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
- Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa
- House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio
- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
- House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla.
- House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn.
- House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich.
- House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Sander Levin, D-Mich.
