President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law the most-sweeping overhaul of America’s food safety system since 1938 after he returns to Washington on Tuesday from a family vacation in Hawaii.
The bill allows for greater governmental regulation of the U.S. food system — recently in the national spotlight for numerous egg and produce recalls.
Among its provisions, the bill gives the federal Food and Drug Administration the authority to issue direct recalls of foods that are suspected to be tainted, rather than relying on individual producers to issue recalls voluntarily.
Currently, the FDA can negotiate with companies, but has no power to enact a mandatory recall.
It also requires food producers to develop written food safety plans, accessible by the government in case of emergency.
Under the measure, the secretary of Health and Human Services would be required to create a food tracing system that would quickly focus on the source of contamination should an outbreak occur. It also requires food importers to verify the safety of all imported foods to make sure they are in accordance with U.S. food safety guidelines.
The president arrives back in Washington as a new Republican majority prepares to take power. The GOP gained control of the House during midterm elections in November and Republicans shaved the Democratic party’s majority in the Senate.
The GOP has promised to repeal many of the reforms implemented by the Obama administration and Democrats, including healthcare reform.
“I think that there’s going to be politics; that’s what happens in Washington,” Obama said aboard Air Force One on his way home. “They are going to play to their base for a certain period of time, but I’m pretty confident that they’re going to recognize that our job is to govern and make sure that we are delivering jobs for the American people and that we are creating a competitive economy for the 21st Century.”
The president suggested that Republican leaders keep politics out of the mix in the session of Congress starting this week.
“There will be plenty of time to campaign for 2012 in 2012,” he said.
(Source: CNN)
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One Response
Really? The food is that bad?
How about a sweeping job creation bill?
How about a sweeping impeachment process for Obama who is TOTALLY incompetent in his job and keeping the country down from the time he told us he can fix it?