Byron Dorgan: “I am introducing legislation Wednesday to improve the safety of the nation's food supply, by increasing educational…”

“I am introducing legislation Wednesday to improve the safety of the nation's food supply, by increasing educational efforts for food processors and handlers and the frequency of inspections for some of them. The bill also establishes new mechanisms for identifying food processors and handlers who originate contaminated food in order to improve federal recall and food safety law enforcement action. Farmers produce high quality products and expect them to reach the consumer with the same high quality standards observed. Farmers and consumers both have an interest in assuring the unquestioned safety of our food. The new global economy is another reason for strengthening the nations' food safety laws. With the new global economy, we have food moving around the world without much understanding of where its coming from, who produced it, and under what conditions. I think it calls for a much more rigorous food inspections, not only for the safety of consumers, but to safeguard the reputation of the products our farmers produce. Another important feature of the bill is new authority for inspection of food and food products at the border as they enter the United States from foreign countries, and in some cases inspections at food processing plants located in foreign countries.”