From the office of Congressman Ted S. Yoho:
Washington, DC¬– Congressman Ted S. Yoho (R-FL), along with others, sent a letter recently to Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Administrator Kevin Shea. The letter is asking the agency to halt the implementation of the their proposed rule from December 2013 – allowing for the importation of fresh and frozen beef from regions in Brazil – until an audit conducted by the Government Accountability Office of the methodology of the site visits takes place.“Historically, Brazil has had issues with the highly contagious and most economically damaging livestock viruses in the world, Foot-and-Mouth Disease,” said Yoho, who is also a large animal veterinarian. “The United States has been free from FMD since 1929 and reintroduction of the disease would pose a significant threat to the health and well-being of our national livestock herds.”
The Food Safety Inspection Service audit released in April found substantial flaws related to Brazil’s food safety regulation requirements and the last documented case of FMD in Brazil was in 2006. Without certainty that Brazil will comply with all health regulations to mitigate the risk of FMD, importation of beef from these regions carry a significant risk.
“While we are staunch advocates for open markets and free trade, we will not ignore the fact that unfettered access of these products has the potential to cause significant harm to our domestic food supply,” the letter states. “Until a timely and independent study can be conducted on the methodology and management controls of the APHIS site visits to the exporting country to verify the animal health data, we shall not abide risking our nation’s food supply, health, and economy.”
Also signed on to the letter are Reps. Lucas (R-Okla.), chair of the House Agriculture Committee; Sessions (R-Texas), chair of the House Rules Committee; Crawford(R- Ark.); Costa (D- Cali.); and Schrader(D-Ore.).