A recent press release from the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) responds to the recent report from the White House Interagency Working Group on Import Safety:
“President Bush, Secretary Leavitt and all the members of the White House Interagency Working Group on Import Safety are to be commended for their work in submitting their report to President Bush on this most important issue.
“Maintaining consumer confidence in our products is the single most important goal of the food, beverage and consumer packaged goods industry. Consumers must be able to trust the government is doing its job, and they must be able to trust the brands they buy and the foods they eat.
“As the report noted, the President’s Interagency Working Group consulted with the food, beverage and consumer products industry during the development its strategic framework, and we are pleased that many of our industry’s suggestions are reflected in the report.
“For instance, the food industry believes that, while inspections are an important component of our nation’s food safety net, inspections alone are not the pathway to a safer food supply. A stronger focus is needed on preventing contaminations and outbreaks, and a risk-based, ‘lifecycle approach’ to food safety is the key to strengthening the safety of products or ingredients sourced overseas.
“Because food safety is a shared responsibility between the private and public sectors, the FDA needs the appropriate level of resources to adequately fulfill its food safety mission. Unfortunately, FDA’s funding has failed to keep up with inflation, let alone the rapidly changing food safety landscape. That is why GMA has called on Congress and the Administration to double the FDA food safety budget over the next five years.
“The food industry will continue to do its part to safeguard the food supply, and will continue to work with Congress and the Bush Administration to modernize our food safety standards and ensure the FDA has the resources it needs to get the job done.”
The GMA, working with its member companies, has developed a proposal to strengthen, modernize and improve the system governing the safety of imported food and food ingredients. The proposal includes a unique public-private partnership that mandates the industry-wide adoption of food safety best practices for foreign suppliers, overseen and enforced by FDA. For more information, contact GMA at 202/337-9400 or e-mail info@gmabrands.com.
