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For Episode 7, we look ahead to next month’s lame duck session and preview a bill likely to be examined in the Senate in the first week back. The “food safety bill” enjoys strong bipartisan support and is likely to receive over 90 Senate votes if it gets that far, but is being blocked from consideration by Sen. Coburn for budgetary reasons.
Its fate at this point will be determined almost entirely by the amount of floor time Democratic leaders are willing to spend on it. But in case you’d like to nudge them one way or the other and want to learn more beforehand, here’s the skinny on S. 510, The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.
S. 510: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act
Introduced 3/3/2009
Sponsor: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Key cosponsors: Judd Gregg (R-NH), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Richard Burr (R-NC), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Mike Enzi (R-WY)
Click here to download this summary (pdf)
Cosponsors: 20 (12 Democrats, 8 Republicans). Full list at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:SN00510:@@@P
Status: Motion to proceed to floor debate filed 9/29. Held up by Sen. Coburn. May be revisited in lame duck session.
House Companion: H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act, passed the House in July 2009 by a 283-142 margin. Similar but not identical. The more direct, but still not identical, companion is H.R. 1332, Safe FEAST Act of 2009.
Purpose: Significant gaps exist in America’s food safety paradigm. We have witnessed numerous outbreaks of food-borne illnesses in recent years, affecting items such as spinach, eggs, peanuts and pet food. According to Sen. Durbin, nearly 76 million Americans are affected by foodborne illnesses each year, hospitalizing 325,000 and killing 5,000. Yet the FDA lacks the authority and resources to adequately regulate the nation’s food supply given these new and daunting challenges.
Summary: This legislation would expand the powers of the Food and Drug Administration and related agencies to fortify the food safety framework. Particular new abilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Conduct more frequent inspections, including required annual inspections of high-risk facilities
• Set forth requirements for mandatory testing
• Order mandatory recalls after allowing responsible parties the opportunity to cease distribution voluntarily
• Shut down facilities in consistent violation of safety regulations
• Access records to determine the source of an outbreak
• Produce more comprehensive tracking and data collection methods
• Establish standards and regulations, and issue guidance documents to ensure firms are aware of these standards
• Help state, local and tribal governments stay prepared to handle agriculture and food emergencies
• Ensure that imported products meet the same standards imposed upon domestically produced food
See the full CRS bill summary (link below) for further details.
The recently released manager’s amendment contains a number of added amendments, mostly meant to lessen the burden on small farms, processors and wholesalers. Details at http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/senate-food-safety-bill/
CBO Score: Estimated cost of $1.4 billion over the 2011-2015 period.
Full review: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/117xx/doc11794/s510.pdf
Supporters: President Obama, Consumer Federation of America, Grocery Manufacturers Association, etc.
• Supporters view this legislation as a long overdue modernization of the nation’s food safety system, saving lives and averting the substantial economic costs resulting from food-borne illnesses.
Opposition: Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, etc.
• Opponents see this as a costly and burdensome intrusion into the food industry, one that could put independent and organic producers out of business. Small and sustainable farms may be exempted from certain regulations in the version that ultimately reaches the floor, potentially mitigating their opposition.
Further links
Full bill text (as amended by Harkin substitute): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-510
Official CRS summary: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-510&tab=summary
Short summary from Sen. Durbin’s office: http://durbin.senate.gov/issues/leg_foodsafety.cfm
Article on Obama advocacy efforts for this legislation: http://www.ombwatch.org/node/11123
Sen. Coburn’s explanation of opposition: http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2010/9/detailed-concerns-with-s-510-the-fda-food-safety-modernization-act-of-2010
3 Comments
I don’t read legislation well . . .
But sure as shit somewhere and somehow this legislation is built to prop up large corporate farming, growing and animal raising, reduce their regulations, and punish and put out of business local based small farmers, growers, ranchers, etc.
There is a HUGE natural/organic movement afoot across the nation, people are growing food in pots on their patio apartments (we are) and this all cuts into profits and controls of the big boys.
From Monsanto gene splicing of seeds so the fruit they bear will have not have usable seeds to grow (gotta buy second season seeds from Monsanto) to harassment of the small farmer the big boys are on the move and are scared shitless of this do it your self movement . . . .
Tester has an amendment to protect small farmers. The Tester amendment would, among other things, allow administrators to carve out exemptions to reporting requirements and mandatory inspections. I believe it’s already been added into the updated HELP draft they’re bringing to the floor. This amendment (or something similar) will be in whatever bill ultimately passes.
I wouldn’t assign malice to the writers of the bill, chances are they focused in on the safety aspect and just didn’t originally consider the undue and unnecessary burden the bill would have on small and sustainable farmers. With these groups now chiming in, it appears they’ve been receptive to changes.
That last comment was meant to be a response to you, forgot to hit the reply button.