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COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE URGES CONGRESS TO APPROVE INTERSTATE MEAT SALES
West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass is urging Congress to pass legislation that would allow state-inspected meats to be sold across state lines. Currently, only federally inspected meat production facilities are allowed to ship products across state lines. A bill to that effect recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The Farm Bill legislation pending before the U.S. Senate will open doors for West Virginia meat processors, as well as state livestock producers,” said Commissioner Douglass. “The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) is recognized as having the top meat inspection program in the country, and other states are required to comply with all federal food safety and consumer protection laws. The consumer can be assured they are buying a safe, wholesome product, regardless of who inspected it. In fact, there has never been a documented food-borne illness from state-inspected products.”
WVDA’s meat inspection program three times has received the highest marks possible during in-depth federal reviews conducted every five years – the only state to do so.
Commissioner Douglass also pointed out that no other food commodities are prohibited from interstate shipment, and that meat and poultry from 34 foreign countries can be freely shipped and sold anywhere in the United States, while more than 2,000 mostly small, family-owned American businesses are denied the same opportunity. Consumers, too, would benefit by having access to a greater selection of specialty meat and poultry products.
He also noted that each state inspection program is annually audited by USDA. The audit document encompasses more than 125 pages of instructions, regulations and procedures. USDA’s audit document for evaluating foreign inspection systems is a one-page checklist. Importing countries do not have the frequency or scrutiny that state inspection programs undergo.
The opening of state borders has come under attack by the Consumer Federation of America, which claimed the proposals would “disembowel” federal meat safety inspection standards. The proposals would change none of the current safety requirements; they would simply remove the prohibition against interstate shipment of state-inspected products.
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs, as mandated by state law. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials in West Virginia. Currently, Commissioner Gus R. Douglass is the longest-serving agriculture commissioner in the nation. For more information, visit www.wvagriculture.org.
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