Political Pressure Allows Deadly Chinese Chicken into the USA

Must read stuff from a must read website. Www.foodandwaterwatch.org Excerpt Food & Water Watch submits petition to remove China from list of eligible exporters of poultry products Washington, D.C. – Food & Water Watch today submitted a Citizen Petition asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to remove the People’s Republic of China from the list of countries eligible to export processed poultry products to the United States. Through a Freedom of Information Act request, Food & Water Watch has found that the USDA’s process for approving a rule that would grant China permission to export processed poultry products to the United States has been flawed and serious mistakes were made due to pressure on the agency to allow the imports to begin as soon as possible. “In the long running saga of whether or not the U.S. should allow poultry processed in China to enter the United States, we now have evidence of instances where the USDA broke its own rules,” said Food & Water Watch’s Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. “USDA needs to do a thorough evaluation of whether this is a country that can safely produce processed poultry products for the U.S. market. They shouldn’t rush through the process for political reasons.” Food & Water Watch has been fighting for more careful scrutiny of proposed Chinese poultry exports to the U.S. since 2005. Through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed with FSIS, the consumer advocacy non-profit has uncovered several flaws in the process to include China on the list of approved importers. Some of the most troubling findings include: In its haste to get a final rule announced in time for a visit to the United States by the Chinese President in 2006, USDA missed required steps in the approval process and failed to send the rule to the USDA Office of Civil Rights for review; Continue here http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/pressreleases/chinese-chicken-imports/