DeLauro, Aderholt Call on USTR to Commit That TPP Negotiating Position on Catfish Will Not Conflict with Current Law

Next Negotiating Round Begins Friday

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-AL) today called on officials representing the United States at this week’s Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiating rounds to commit, publicly, that their negotiating position on catfish will not conflict with existing U.S. law. The bipartisan letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman can be read in its entirety here.

“Public health and food safety must be a top priority in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations,” they wrote. “Americans depend on government to ensure the safety of their food supply…Our government is responsible for maintaining the safety of our nation’s food supply – including seafood. We urge you to adhere to our promise to protect American consumers. Furthermore, we ask you to make a public statement of your commitment to a negotiating position that will not enter the U.S. into any trade agreement that will conflict with our domestic catfish inspection laws.”

Earlier this month, the Appropriations Committee approved an amendment by DeLauro that prohibited the Administration from entering into any agreement that invalidates U.S. catfish inspection laws. That amendment is now part of the Fiscal Year 2016 Agriculture Appropriations bill, which was approved by the Committee and is now awaiting action by the entire House of Representatives. Aderholt is Chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.

Several countries involved in TPP negotiations, particularly Vietnam and Malaysia, have notoriously lax food safety standards. For example, one recent study found that antibiotics banned by the Food and Drug Administration were present in 100 percent of Vietnamese catfish farms.


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