DeLauro Discusses Budget Proposal with Department of Agriculture Officials

Questions Them on Food Safety, Trade at AppropriationsHearing

WASHINGTON, DC--Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) discussedissues affecting the public health and the viability of American agriculturewith United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary Ed Avalosand other USDA officials today. Issues ranged from food safety toimpending trade agreements and other issues impacting Connecticut and thenation.

During the question and answer period, DeLauro engaged withUnder Secretary Avalos and Kevin Shea, Acting Administrator of the Animal andPlant Health Inspection Service, on the impact the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP) could have on food safety.

"As I told Secretary Vilsack on Tuesday, I haveconcerns about the TPP agreement currently being negotiated, and we talkedabout the new binding dispute resolution process in particular. Based on yourwritten testimony and response to my questions, it sounds like we already havea system that meets our trade goals and enables scientists and technicalexperts to work through issues directly. The proposed binding disputeresolution presents a clear risk to the substance of our food safety standards,and also the animal and plant health standards that are critical to theproductivity of American agriculture. Trade and exports are important, butshould not trump public health."

Later in the questioning, DeLauro spoke about the importanceof the recently-closed Microbiological Data Program (MDP). MDP collected dataon potential contamination of certain kinds of produce, helping protectconsumers from foodborne illness. In 2011, this small program performed over35,000 tests on more than 17,400 produce samples.

"I continue to disagree with the Administration'sdecision to end the Microbiological Data Program. This small program collecteda wealth of data on microbial contamination of produce and it is unacceptableto lose this imperative information. This is not a duplicative or wastefulprograms -- without this program, the data is simply not being collected."