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DTN – Thursday – September 28, 2006 – 5:20 p.m. CDT OIG: FSIS Reviews Inconsistent -Rep. Wants Restrictions on State-Inspected Meatpackers Lifted -OIG Report Finds State Meat Inspections Not Comparable to Federal Standards OMAHA (DTN) -- USDA hasn't been effectively ensuring that state meat inspections are comparable to federal standards, according to a report by USDA's Office of Inspector General. USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service has not conducted consistent reviews of states that have their own inspection programs and federal officials are prone to give a passing grade to a state's inspection program even if it is rife with deficiencies that don't measure up to federal meat-inspection standards, the report states. The report comes as some members of Congress want to lift restrictions on state-inspected meatpackers to allow those companies to sell products across state lines. Twenty-eight states currently have their own inspectors for some meat or poultry processing facilities. Under the cooperative agreements, the states must ensure their inspections are "at least equal to" federal standards. Facilities under those state inspections process about 500 million pounds of meat annually. According to the OIG report, FSIS initiated a program in 2003 to better conduct reviews of state facilities. So far, FSIS officials have not completed the agency's reviews on the 28 states, but now intends to do so by the end of June 2007. The agency has begun 24 reviews, but FSIS officials declined to issue final decisions on 11 of the states pending corrective actions that could bring the state inspections up to compliance level. How FSIS arrived at its decisions on state programs is not clear, the OIG stated, because inspectors did not follow guidelines in drafting their summary reports. FSIS officials instead chose to eliminate specific criteria from its reviews of the states. U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., introduced legislation last week that he said would give state-inspected meat facilities "equal footing" with federally inspected facilities and international meat suppliers. The bill includes facilities that process beef, pork, poultry and lamb. Blunt said USDA has agreed that state inspection programs are "at least equal to" federal inspections, but a 40-year-old law restricts state-inspected meatpackers from marketing across state lines. "I can't find a good reason, scientific or political, for this law," Blunt said. "That is why I want to change it. If we want to open markets for agricultural products, we ought to start at home." There are about 2,000 state-inspected facilities, including 31 in Blunt's home state of Missouri. Blunt said these facilities are restricted from interstate shipping, even though processing facilities in 30 countries can ship their meat anywhere in the U.S. One of the major advocates pushing the interstate legislation is the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, which argues that federal legislation allows state-inspected plants to market products across state lines such as venison, quail or other wild game, but not more common consumer products. Bill Bullard, chief executive officer of the cattle group R-CALF USA, has been a supporter of interstate commerce for the state-inspected plants since R-CALF's conception. Previous legislation has been blocked by lobbying efforts of larger meatpackers, he said. Bullard didn't think the Inspector General's report directly impugns state-inspected packing plants. "The fact that FSIS has to improve its oversight is far different than if OIG were saying that the regulations are incapable of maintaining adequate safety," Bullard said. "This is an area the agency (FSIS) needs to improve whether or not these plants were allowed to market into interstate commerce." Bullard also noted that FDA and FSIS generally issue few recall notices from these smaller plants. From 2003 to June 2005, FSIS completed eight state reviews and found that four were not able to be certified as at least equal to federal standards. USDA officials found in 2003 that one state, Missouri, "did not support" the "at least equal to" standard due to widespread deficiencies in inspections, staffing and enforcement. Missouri officials sent a plan of correction in 2004 that was approved by FSIS officials. In two states, Mississippi and North Dakota, none of the inspections at meatpacking facilities met USDA standards with problems cited on hazardous critical control points in the packing plants and sanitary measures. Still, FSIS officials approved Mississippi and North Dakota's state inspection systems. Specifically, the OIG reported that its inspectors found "soot-like material" on hog carcasses at a Mississippi facility, problems with cooking temperatures, lack of state monitoring and poor sanitary standards. Jean Halloran, director of the food policy initiative at Consumer's Union, said it may be premature for legislation allowing interstate commerce of state-inspected meat, particularly if USDA cannot show state inspections measure up. If oversight were improved, smaller packers could provide new avenues for livestock and poultry producers to market niche products to a broader audience, such as grass-fed beef. "So, there's the potential there for this to be positive, but the safety has to come first," Halloran said. Under federal rules, USDA is supposed to conduct on-site reviews of state inspection programs every three years. In at least four states, that had not been done since at least 2000. Responding to the audit, FSIS stated it will review each state every three years. The FSIS reviews did not spell out specific state-inspector staff requirements or performance standards. The review also did not consider whether state testing labs were comparable to federal standards. The idea of allowing interstate meat sales of state-inspected meat has broad support in agriculture. In the Senate, a bi-partisan bill drafted by lawmakers from Utah, North Dakota and Wisconsin was backed by agricultural groups this past summer, including the National Farmers Union, National Cattlemen's Beef Association and R-CALF USA. (SS) © Copyright 2006 DTN. All rights reserved. |
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