Senator Dianne Feinstein andCongresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard have expressed "serious concern"regarding a proposed rulemaking that is currently pending before theOffice of Management and Budget (OMB) that would have a damaging impacton the US state of California.
In a joint letter dated May 5 and addressed to Peter Orszag, Director ofthe OMB under the Executive Office of the US President, the Congressmembers, both from California, wrote:
"We understand that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has aproposed rule that would dramatically expand the definition of 'catfish'for the purposes of its new catfish inspection program. Thisredefinition would limit consumers' seafood options, eliminateCalifornia seafood processing lines, damage our state's uniquebilateral relationship with Asian trading partners and could cost ourstate critical jobs during these trying economic times."
In 2002, the US Congress defined "catfish" as the domestic species"ictaluridae" and since there has been an increasing demand inCalifornia and around the country for "pangasius", an affordable, mild,white fish from Asia and these fish are marketed in the US as"tra", "basa" or "swai", the two Congress members said.
"However", they said, "we understand that domestic catfish farmers areattempting to convince USDA to reverse current law through regulation byexpanding the definition of catfish to include 'pangasius' in theproposed rulemaking implementing the new catfish inspection program fromthe 2008 Farm Bill."
“This rule would be detrimental for California businesses and consumersand damaging to our trade relationship with Asia,” they stressed, adding“millions of pounds of 'pangasius' are currently imported throughCalifornia ports. The growth in 'pangasius' imports has helped providean affordable, healthy protein for the American people and critical jobsfor California longshoremen, teamsters, cold storage owners,processors and distributors."
This would "have a serious impact on the Vietnamese economy where'pangasius' trade is about 2 percent of their gross domestic product andthe potential for serious impact on the US economy if Vietnam pursuesWTO retaliations again🐻st US 🔯exports,” they further said.
The two US Congress members also said that they did not understand whysafety inspection of certain seafood should be moved from the FDA, which"successfully ensures the safety of seafood through the Hazard Analysisand Critical Control Point process", to the USDA.
According to them, in 2006, the most recent year that date is available,hospitals reported only 10 illnesses attributable to e.coli, listeriaor salmonella from seafood while about 1,100 illnesses were reportedfrom the same pathogens attributable to poultry. Accounting for lowerper capita consumption of seafood, fish inspected by FDA is 14 timesless likely to result in hospitalisations than are other proteins.
They asked the OMB Director to learn from the experience in othercountries that have also thoroughly investigated the safety of Vietnam's pangasius exports.
They cited the Spanish Ministry of Health Affairs’ examination on'pangasius' in 2009 as saying that 'pangasius' met food safetyregulations set by the European Union and posed no danger to consumerhealth.
Italy 's Parliament, after also testing the safety of 'pangasius' inApril 2009 similarly stated that neither Italy nor the EU have everadopted restrictive measures on 'pangasius' from Vietnam .
Most recently, Japan 's Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau focusedon broad Vietnam seafood safety issues and concluded that Vietnammeets the strict standards for export to Japan 's markets".
Senator Feinstein and Congresswoman Roybal-Allard also urged the OMBDirector to listen to the views of the experts at the State Department,US Trade Representative, Department of Commerce and FDA and their"serious concerns” about the economic and trade impact in California ashe concluded his review of the proposed redefinition of 'catfish'./.
In a joint letter dated May 5 and addressed to Peter Orszag, Director ofthe OMB under the Executive Office of the US President, the Congressmembers, both from California, wrote:
"We understand that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has aproposed rule that would dramatically expand the definition of 'catfish'for the purposes of its new catfish inspection program. Thisredefinition would limit consumers' seafood options, eliminateCalifornia seafood processing lines, damage our state's uniquebilateral relationship with Asian trading partners and could cost ourstate critical jobs during these trying economic times."
In 2002, the US Congress defined "catfish" as the domestic species"ictaluridae" and since there has been an increasing demand inCalifornia and around the country for "pangasius", an affordable, mild,white fish from Asia and these fish are marketed in the US as"tra", "basa" or "swai", the two Congress members said.
"However", they said, "we understand that domestic catfish farmers areattempting to convince USDA to reverse current law through regulation byexpanding the definition of catfish to include 'pangasius' in theproposed rulemaking implementing the new catfish inspection program fromthe 2008 Farm Bill."
“This rule would be detrimental for California businesses and consumersand damaging to our trade relationship with Asia,” they stressed, adding“millions of pounds of 'pangasius' are currently imported throughCalifornia ports. The growth in 'pangasius' imports has helped providean affordable, healthy protein for the American people and critical jobsfor California longshoremen, teamsters, cold storage owners,processors and distributors."
This would "have a serious impact on the Vietnamese economy where'pangasius' trade is about 2 percent of their gross domestic product andthe potential for serious impact on the US economy if Vietnam pursuesWTO retaliations again🐻st US 🔯exports,” they further said.
The two US Congress members also said that they did not understand whysafety inspection of certain seafood should be moved from the FDA, which"successfully ensures the safety of seafood through the Hazard Analysisand Critical Control Point process", to the USDA.
According to them, in 2006, the most recent year that date is available,hospitals reported only 10 illnesses attributable to e.coli, listeriaor salmonella from seafood while about 1,100 illnesses were reportedfrom the same pathogens attributable to poultry. Accounting for lowerper capita consumption of seafood, fish inspected by FDA is 14 timesless likely to result in hospitalisations than are other proteins.
They asked the OMB Director to learn from the experience in othercountries that have also thoroughly investigated the safety of Vietnam's pangasius exports.
They cited the Spanish Ministry of Health Affairs’ examination on'pangasius' in 2009 as saying that 'pangasius' met food safetyregulations set by the European Union and posed no danger to consumerhealth.
Italy 's Parliament, after also testing the safety of 'pangasius' inApril 2009 similarly stated that neither Italy nor the EU have everadopted restrictive measures on 'pangasius' from Vietnam .
Most recently, Japan 's Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau focusedon broad Vietnam seafood safety issues and concluded that Vietnammeets the strict standards for export to Japan 's markets".
Senator Feinstein and Congresswoman Roybal-Allard also urged the OMBDirector to listen to the views of the experts at the State Department,US Trade Representative, Department of Commerce and FDA and their"serious concerns” about the economic and trade impact in California ashe concluded his review of the proposed redefinition of 'catfish'./.
