Dick Lugar: “Today, the Senate takes final action on the Food Quality Protection Act. The legislation before us today passed the…”

“Today, the Senate takes final action on the Food Quality Protection Act. The legislation before us today passed the House on July 23 by a vote of 417 to 0. I commend our colleagues in the House for this bipartisan compromise to reform the Delaney clause. Chairman Bliley, Representative Dingell, and Representative Waxman are to be commended for their efforts. I also want to thank my counterparts on the House Agriculture Committee, Chairman Roberts and Representative de la Garza. This bill represents a carefully crafted compromise. A large list of consumer groups, environmental organizations, food industry organizations, and farm groups support the bill. The administration has indicated the President will sign the bill. The bill reforms the scientifically outdated Delaney clause enacted in 1958. The Delaney clause ignores the concept of risk. As science continues to develop new means of detecting even the smallest amount of substance in food, the Delaney clause would force more and more safe products off the market. The compromise bill sets a 'safe' standard for both raw and processed food. Safe is defined as 'a reasonable certainty that no harm will result from aggregate exposure to pesticide chemical residue.' The bill also allows for the consideration of benefits when setting tolerances, but limits how much additional risk is acceptable as a tradeoff for benefits.”