Annual hiring of an additional 240 agricultural specialists to strengthen U.S. borders and ports of entry and 200 agricultural technicians for administrative and support functions along with 20 new K-9 teams is now authorized by law.
President Trump has signed The Protecting America’s Food & Agriculture Act of 2019, bipartisan
Continue Reading U.S. beefs up border inspections with more agricultural, food safety expertise
The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry late Wednesday voted to favorably report the nomination of Mindy Brashears to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety.
Her nomination may now be considered by the full U.S. Senate for confirmation. That floor vote is expected to occur before the
Continue Reading Senate likely to vote soon on Brashears as USDA’s top food safety official
Senators Pat Roberts, D-KS, and Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, were beaming Tuesday during the first agricultural committee hearing since the Farm Bill passed.
Roberts, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Nutrition, was so proud he kept asking to be reminded that the Farm Bill, now in conference, passed
Continue Reading Senate holds confirmation hearing, but not for key food safety post
Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue thinks it would be an over-reaction for USDA to embargo Brazilian beef because of that country’s federal investigation of meat inspectors being bribed to overlook standards for exported meat.
Former Georgia Gov. Sunny Perdue testified before the Senate ag committee March
Continue Reading Near confirmation, Perdue says no to Brazilian beef embargo
Agro-terrorism, which has been around as a fear since 9/11, is getting new attention with the introduction in Congress of the Securing our Agriculture and Food Act.
Text of the bill is not yet available, but it is said to include high-risk events involving food, agriculture and livestock. It was
Continue Reading Food, agricultural events could get agro-terrorism treatment
Just label It is throwing in the towel. The never-ending campaign by the organic industry’s top political players to force GMO labeling on the entire food industry says its time to move on. After a 63-30 vote late Friday for a national GMO labeling scheme that was opposed by Just
Continue Reading Just Label It takes a victory lap after losing; opts to move on
A divided U.S. Senate Wednesday could not invoke cloture to bring the Biotechnology Labeling Solutions Bill to vote. The cloture vote, which required 60 for passage, failed by a dozen votes, 48-49. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-KS, would have stopped states from imposing their own labels on
Continue Reading Senate splits over labeling food with genetically engineered ingredients
Labeling food in interstate commerce might come up enough in U.S. law and regulations for the federal government to claim it’s already pre-empted the subject from the states. However, with a July 1 deadline for compliance with a Vermont law requiring the labeling of food with any ingredients that are
Continue Reading Congressional train rolling to pre-empt states on GMO labels
The Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing Thursday to discuss country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for meat, which requires that packages sold in the U.S. indicate the country, or countries, where animals were born, raised and slaughtered. “It doesn’t matter if you’re pro-COOL (and many are) or anti-COOL (and many are), you
Continue Reading Senate Agriculture Committee Mulls Options on COOL
The Senate Agriculture Committee hearing Wednesday on country-of-origin labeling (COOL) and trade retaliation got something new to chew on. On the eve of the first Senate action since the House of Representatives voted to repeal COOL, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the ranking minority member on the committee, circulated a draft bill
Continue Reading Michigan Senator Offers Voluntary COOL Draft for Discussion Purposes
