China has suspended imports of shellfish from the West Coast of the United States after finding high levels of arsenic and a toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning in recent shipments of geoduck clams from Northwest waters. The indefinite ban affects clams, oysters and all other two-shelled bivalves harvested off
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Imports and Exports: The Global Beef Trade
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture updated the nation’s stance on beef imports with regard to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the fatal affliction in cattle commonly known as “Mad Cow Disease.” The U.S. is moving to adopt international standards set forth by the World Organization for Animal Health,
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Publisher’s Platform: Food Safety – It’s a Global Issue
Food products now come to the United States from over 250,000 foreign establishments in 200 countries. Indeed, 15 percent of fruits, 20 percent of vegetables, and 80 percent of seafood come from overseas. And, with the consumption of imported foods growing, we have seen an increase in recalls and foodborne
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Vilsack: Trade Barriers Against U.S. Food on the Rise
The number of food safety and plant health trade barriers plaguing U.S. agricultural exports is way up, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told a congressional committee recently.
“In the last 10 years, the number of sanitary and phytosanitary barriers we have had to deal with has increased from roughly 650 to
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Animal Drug Widely Used in US Meat the Focus of Trade Dispute
A controversial animal drug, fed to a majority of pigs raised in the United States, has become the focus of a long-running trade dispute centered on meat exports.
Ractopamine hydrochloride – used to keep swine lean and boost their growth in the last weeks before slaughter – is administered to
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USDA to Hold Import-Export Public Meeting
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is holding a public meeting to provide information and receive comments on agenda items, as well as to draft U.S. positions to be discussed at the 19th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection
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Going Without Animal ID Will Be Costly, Study Says
If rural America kicks the lite version of animal identification (ID) to the curb just as it did the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), an economic study says export markets for U.S. beef and pork will be much smaller.
Funded by the U.S. Meat Export Federation and authored by five
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Australia's Privatized Meat Inspection Questioned
An alternative meat inspection program used by Australian exporters maintains sanitation standards equal to those of the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), according to a notice of approval published in the Federal Register March 3.
The notice says FSIS is reaffirming its earlier decision to accept Australia’s Meat
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No Dioxin in German Foods Bound for Hong Kong
For the second time in less than a week, multiple foods imported from German have passed dioxin tests by Hong Kong’s Center for Food Safety, known for its ability to sniff out chemicals in edibles.
Getting its food products back into Hong Kong is a sign the German dioxin scandal
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Canada Reworks Food Import Regulations
Canada is looking at new regulations for certain imported food products.
As part of the process, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is seeking input from stakeholders and the Canadian public on the proposed principles that will guide the development of new imported food regulations.
This would include enhanced food