DeLauro Statement on the Recent USDA Audits of Chinese Chicken Facilities

WASHINGTON, DC (March 4, 2016) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today released the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s audits of Chinese poultry facilities and recommendation to move forward with poultry slaughter system equivalence.

“This move by the USDA is once again more proof that the agency is more concerned with trade than the protection of American consumers. I have deep reservations about the USDA clearing the path for China to export poultry products to the United States, given that China has shown time and time again to have serious deficiencies in its food safety system. I am appalled that the USDA has given China the green light to bring those deficiencies back to American families.

“I will continue to fight to ensure that these products do not end up in our kid’s lunches or on our dinner tables. We cannot put the health and wellbeing of consumers across the country at risk. The Trans-Pacific Partnership will only exacerbate this issue, enabling nations like Vietnam and foreign investors to dismantle our public health and safety system. The American people deserve better.”

The USDA audits can be found here and here.

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