Lean Trimmings and Herd on the Hill
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Lean Trimmings Edited by Lauron Early March 15, 2010 USDA/DOJ HEARINGS The first of five joint USDA/DOJ Competition Workshops was held in Ankeny, Iowa last Friday. It was led by Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, and featured a panel discussion on a variety of topics important to agriculture, including competitive dynamics in the seed industry, trends in contracting, transparency and buyer power, and the session concluded with public testimony. The panel was comprised of six farmers who presented their views on competition and regulatory issues. Several leading federal and state officials who attended included Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, Congressman Leonard Boswell, Asst. AG for DOJ’s antitrust division Christine Varney, Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, Iowa AG Tom Miller and Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey, Montana AG Steve Bullock, Ohio AG Richard Cordray, and Missouri AG Chris Koster. Future hearings and their focus are: May 21 Normal, AL Poultry June 7 Madison, WI Dairy August 26 Fort Collins, CO Livestock Dec. 8 Washington, DC Margins Neil Hamilton, director of the Drake University Law Center, weighed in on the fundamental disagreement about competition in the industry. “We have a clash of legal cultures,” he said. “On one hand, you have the rights of intellectual property, held by Monsanto and other patent holders. On the other hand, you have the antitrust laws.” Hamilton noted the significance of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1980 that made scientific discoveries in life forms, such as plants and seeds, eligible for patents. “Think how significant that has been in agriculture,” Hamilton said of the decision 30 years ago. “And it was never debated by congress and the public.” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said one of the purposes of the session in Ankeny, and three other workshops being held throughout this year, “will be to help us be better antitrust lawyers.” Biotech seeds have had their critics, but farmer Pam Johnson of Floyd County told the agriculture antitrust workshop Friday that “biotechnology has made our lives better.” “We are better, more productive farmers today because of biotechnology,” said Johnson, who is a director of the National Corn Growers Association. Since their introduction in the mid-1990s, corn and soybean seeds genetically altered to kill insects and resist herbicides now are used on 90 percent of Midwest farm fields. Johnson decried what she said is a “media feeding frenzy” that often is anti-science and anti-corporate and threatens to divide farmers. “Farmers don’t want to be pitted against one another,” she said. Johnson also lamented that “after a promising start, the federal government’s support of ethanol seems to be weakening.” The discussions took a more measured tone, as Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and others outlined their concerns about consolidation in the farm sector. “Bigger isn't per se bad,” Grassley said. “But it can lead to predatory business practices and behaviors and that's what we've got to be concerned about.” CORRECTION: In the photo from Stone Meats in Last week’s Lean Trimmings, Leonard Blackham, Commissioner State of Utah was incorrectly identified as Orrin Evans. NPPC DELEGATES SET THE COURSE FOR 2010 In a news conference following the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) delegate session held in conjunction with the 2010 National Pork Industry Forum, Sam Carney, the NPPC's newly elected president, cited issues related to antibiotics and food safety, animal identification, the environment and trade as those high on NPPC’s agenda. During the two-day business meeting that took place March 4th-6th, producer delegates from across the United States discussed and voted on resolutions used to guide the organization's efforts. In all, the delegates approved 12 resolutions and referred one to a committee with the directive of reporting back at the 2011 Pork Forum. A sampling of the approved resolutions include the following, as reported by Pork Magazine: • That NPPC invest additional resources in a strong pork industry image campaign. The delegates discussed the growing need to inform and educate the public about what and why pork producers do things and work to further build trust. • Support the development and implementation of a comprehensive and integrated swine disease surveillance system that addresses animal and public health needs. This program would allow pork producers to assure trading partners about the disease and health status of the U.S. swine herd and pork supply. • Oppose climate change legislation at state or national levels that would reduce grain acres, increase input prices and create cuts in pork production. • Oppose any new legislation or regulations that restrict marketing opportunities or interventions into hog markets -- unless such actions address an unequivocal instance of market failure or abuse. NEW BSE CASE IN CANADA Canada has discovered its 17th case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). The infection was detected through the national surveillance program in a six-year-old Black Angus cow in the same general area of Alberta, home to most of Canada’s BSE findings. The discovery has caused criticism because it was allegedly announced to industry stakeholders on February 25th, but was only released to the media or general public more recently, according to The Badger. With the confirmation this week, it is expected that any upgrade to Canada’s international risk status will be further delayed, says the U.S. Meat Export Federation. RUSSIA RELISTS U.S. PORK PLANTS Ten of fifteen U.S. pork plants that had been delisted by Russia for either tetracycline or microbiological violations have been approved to resume shipments to that country. The remaining plants are either waiting for approval of their Export Verification (EV) programs from the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) or have not yet submitted a program for approval. Another nineteen U.S. pork plants have been delisted by Russia for errors on audits, and the U.S. Meat Export Federation is working with U.S. officials to create a procedure to facilitate the relisting process. An updated list of plants eligible to export pork to Russia can be found on the FSIS’s website at www.fsis.usda.gov. CONVENTION PICS New pictures from the 64th Annual Convention have been added to the NMAonline.org homepage scrolling image portfolio. If they don’t immediately show up when you visit, just refresh your browser … and enjoy! AVMA DECRIES ABANDONMENT OF NAIS A recent decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to scrap a national animal identification system could seriously hinder U.S. veterinarians' ability to track diseased animals and prevent the spread of those diseases - diseases that could spread to humans and cost U.S. farmers millions of dollars, says former USDA leader and American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) CEO Ron DeHaven in a new video. Although USDA says it will move to a different system, Dr. DeHaven says that one of the biggest problems with this announcement is that there will be no animal ID system during this new development period, which could take years. As opposed to NAIS, which is a national program, the new system will be administered by individual states and tribal nations. Each state and tribal nation will be allowed to use its own system of identification. "Will these systems developed by individual states and tribal nations be compatible with each other?" Dr. DeHaven asks in the video. "Will we actually be able to trace animals as they move from state to state with different systems in each state or tribal nation?" The full video can be viewed at the AVMA's video site, AVMA-TV, at www.avmatv.org, and a downloadable version of the video is available to journalists through the association's media library, www.avmamedia.org. E-VERIFY: A PREVENTION TOOL The meat industry spends a lot of effort to prevent bad things from happening! HACCP is a prevention system, adopted by regulators to help them enhance the safety of meat and poultry produced under the authority of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act. The industry has also introduced substantial technology to help prevent workplace accidents, having lockout systems, and many other worker safety measures in place. It makes abundant sense that meat and poultry industry firms use as many preventive techniques as they can to avoid running afoul of the immigration laws. It’s not easy, because those trying to work in the U.S. not legally entitled to do so use many tricks to get past the system. A vigilant effort by management and human resource experts to comply with the hiring laws will be appreciated by regulatory enforcement officials when they audit a company that is suspected of having illegal immigrants in their workplace. One of the best preventive techniques is to check and re-check to make sure that I-9s are in order and to use E-verify. Although E-verify is not foolproof, in the event of an ICE audit it demonstrates that the employer is actively attempting to hire a legal workforce. Of course it is essential to maintain the records to show that you are carrying out these activities. NEW AGGRESSIVE APPROACH TO E. COLI On March 10th during an E. coli traceback meeting in Washington, DC, USDA officials announced new protocols that will involve collecting information on raw ground beef components when a presumed positive test result is obtained. Enforcement Investigations and Analysis Officers (EIAOs) will be sent to the grinding facility within 48 hours of the test results being issued. If the ground beef components might contain imported product, the country of origin must be identified and contacted by FSIS officials so equivalency procedures can be examined. FSIS was applauded by consumer advocates for taking a more aggressive approach to presumed positive test results, but criticized for expecting them to comment on the new procedures without having had a chance to review them. FSIS officials promised their concerns would be addressed following a public comment period, as reported by Food Chemical News. The OFW memo regarding this meeting can be found in the members-only section of our website at www.nmaonline.org. Herd On The Hill HUMANE METHODS OF SLAUGHTER ACT ENFORCEMENT HEARING Congressional Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH-10) vowed to increase oversight over USDA after a hearing in which a Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) veterinarian accused his own agency of being lax on humane handling. The vet, Dean Wyatt of Vermont, told lawmakers that his managers repeatedly failed to heed his warnings about unsafe slaughterhouse practices. The subject of the hearing was a U.S. Government and Accountability Office (GAO) survey of the enforcement of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA). The survey was conducted due to growing concerns about the humane handling and slaughter of livestock. According to the GAO survey, FSIS inspectors have not taken consistent actions to enforce HMSA. The lack of consistency in enforcement may be due in part to the lack of clarity in current FSIS guidance and inadequate training. The guidance doesn’t clearly indicate when enforcement actions should be taken for an act that is cruel to animals or a condition that is ignored and leads to the harming of the animals. The survey also shows that FSIS can’t fully identify trends in its inspection funding and staffing for HMSA, in part because it can not track HMSA inspection funds separately from the inspection funds spent on food safety activities. FSIS also does not have a current workforce planning strategy for allocating limited staff to inspection activities including HMSA enforcement. The full GAO report can be found on GAO’s website at www.gao.gov. Wyatt gave a personal account of how, in several instances, he witnessed and reported the mistreatment of animals. FSIS officials allowed a plant he closed to reopen following more than one suspension, he said. Company officials later complained, and Wyatt was ordered to attend training sessions despite his objections, he said. However, a lawyer representing the company said it has been working with the USDA to address concerns and hopes to resolve the matter completely in the coming weeks, reported the Washington Post. Wyatt has been represented last two years by the Government Accountability Project (GAP), which has worked with several federal whistleblowers. Jonathan Cantu, a GAP public health and safety associate, said current federal law makes it difficult for some federal workers to share their concerns. After Wyatt testified, USDA Deputy Undersecretary for Food Safety Jarold Mande was asked whether the USDA seal of inspection "meant anything" when it came to the treatment of animals. Mande said that the seal could and should still be trusted. He also repeatedly tried to distance the current administration from actions that took place during the Bush administration, stating that "in this administration we would not tolerate inspectors being disregarded," reports Food Chemical News. FSIS UPDATES ON HVP LABELS As a result of the recent recall of hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), Sally Jones, Director of Food Safety and Inspection Service’s Labeling and Program Delivery Division (LPDD) stated that the LPDD will review temporary label approval applications on an expedited basis (i.e., goal is to provide a turnaround on the same day as submitted) so that establishments can continue to exhaust their label inventory as they reformulate their products provided that the applications make it clear that the temporary approval is being sought because of the HVP issue. The Director also stated that establishments should submit a blanket temporary label approval, if possible. She did note establishments would still have to submit information that demonstrates that they meet the conditions for temporary approval set forth in 9 C.F.R. 317.4(f) and 381.132(f). FDA ISSUES WARNING LETTERS FDA has notified seventeen food manufacturers that the labeling for twenty two of their food products violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The action follows an October 2009 statement by Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret Hamburg encouraging companies to review their labeling to ensure that they were in compliance with FDA regulations, and were truthful and not misleading. The warning letters are the agency’s most recent action to help improve consumers’ ability to make nutritious choices. The FDA soon will propose guidance regarding calorie and nutrient labeling on the front of food packages and plans to work collaboratively with the food industry to design and implement innovative approaches to front-of-package labeling that can help consumers choose healthy diets. Companies that have received warning letters have 15 business days to inform the FDA of the steps they will take to correct their labeling, according to an FDA press release. |
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