House and Senate Pass Conference Version of FY 2006 USDA, FDA, Etc. Appropriations Bill

The conference version of H.R. 2744 has been presented to the President for his signature into law, but the President has not yet taken action on it.

H.R. 2744 would provide FY 2006 funding for, among things, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), including the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Highlights of the Appropriations Bill's Provisions

The conference version of H.R. 2744 contains certain trade-related provisions, as follows (partial list):

Mandatory country of origin labeling for meat, produce, and peanuts would be delayed until September 30, 2008.H.R. 2744 would delay mandatory country of origin labeling for subject meat, produce and peanuts until September 30, 2008 (from September 30, 2006).

(The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, Public Law (P.L.) 107-171 required certain retailers of specified commodities to inform consumers at the final point of sale of the country of origin of those commodities, effective for retail sales of such commodities beginning September 30, 2004 (see below for details on effective date delay for certain commodities). The commodities subject to the new country of origin requirement include: (a) muscle cuts of beef, lamb, and pork; (b) ground beef, lamb, and pork; (c) certain perishable agricultural commodities (i.e., fresh fruits and vegetables, whether or not frozen or packed in ice, and certain cherries in brine); (d) farm-raised fish; (e) wild fish; and (f) peanuts.

The FY 2004 Omnibus Appropriations Act delayed the mandatory COOL for subject meat, produce and peanuts until September 30, 2006, but not for farm-raised and wild fish, which remained subject to the original September 30, 2004 effective date.

Trade-related funding provisions. Highlights of trade-related provisions in the conference version of H.R. 2744 include (partial list):

• $815,461,000 would be appropriated for the APHIS salaries and expenses to prevent, control, and eradicate pests and plant and animal diseases, to carry out inspection, quarantine, and regulatory activities, etc.,;
• $837,756,000 would be appropriated for necessary expenses to carry out services authorized by the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act, including $753,252,000 for Federal food safety inspection;
• $11,940,000 would be appropriated for ocean freight differential costs for the shipment of agricultural commodities under title I of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 and under the Food for Progress Act of 1985;
• $1,828,567,000 would be appropriated for FDA expenses; and
• None of the funds appropriated by this Act would be able to be used to carry out section 410 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 USC 679a) or Section 30 of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 USC 471).

Highlights from the Conferees Joint Explanatory Statement

The joint explanatory statement of the conference committee also contains the following trade-related provisions:

Japan's imports of U.S. beef. According to the statement, the conference version of H.R. 2744 does not include language proposed by the Senate which would have conditioned imports of beef from Japan until that country takes steps toward opening its market to U.S. beef products. Nonetheless, the conferees strongly urge the Secretary to continue ongoing negotiations with the Japanese government to open this important market. The conferees are encouraged by recent movement in these negotiations, but clearly reserve the right to impose restrictions similar to those suggested by the Senate if there is not a swift resolution to this issue;

Animal health issue (e.g., BSE). The statement notes that the conferees remain aware of public attention to animal health issues, especially those that have implications for food safety and other aspects of human public health issues. Following the discovery of a BSE-infected cow in Washington State in December of 2003, the Secretary of Agriculture imposed a ban on the entry of non-ambulatory beef cattle into the food supply. The conferees' statement notes the continuing strong interest among the American consuming public regarding this policy and directs the Secretary to notify and closely confer with specified Congressional committees before the USDA takes any actions that would weaken this safeguard. In addition, the conferees encourage the Secretary to initiate an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on this subject. Finally, the conferees urge the Secretary to continue efforts for enhanced surveillance of animal health through sampling tissues and other materials retrieved from rendering facilities or places where non-ambulatory animals are otherwise disposed;

Import-export inspection. The conferees provide $12,493,000 for APHIS import-export inspection including $1,000,000 for a cooperative agreement with the California County Pest Detection Augmentation Program;

BSE-related activities. The conference agreement provides the full amount requested $17,184,000 for APHIS surveillance and other activities related to BSE;

Imports of ethnic foods in Los Angeles district. The statement notes that the conferees are aware of concerns about the regulation of imports of ethnic foods in the Los Angeles district. Concerns include the issues of communication to importers about shipments being held by FDA, the amount of time that shipments are held, and proper declaration of products. According to the statement, the conferees understand that in 2004 FDA's Los Angeles District implemented new operating procedures and held a public meeting on these issues. Since two years have elapsed, the conferees suggest that FDA now review the performance of the program and solicit input from the import community.

Shrimp imports. The conferees have serious concerns regarding seafood safety issues posed by banned antibiotic contamination in farm-raised shrimp imports. In addition, the conferees are concerned that the USDA inspects less than 2% of the shrimp being imported into the U.S. The conferees recommend that the FDA, in cooperation with any state testing programs, continue testing of farm raised shrimp imports for chloramphenicol and other related harmful antibiotics.

Increased import surveillance of food. The statement notes that within the food safety and defense increase, the conference version of H.R. 2744 provides increases of $5,074,000 for food defense research, $3,926,000 for the Food Emergency Response Network, $500,000 for food defense bio-surveillance, and $500,000 to improve and increase import surveillance of food.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 06/14/05 news, 05061415, for BP summary of the House's passage of its version of H.R. 2744.)

Conference version of H.R. 2744, including joint explanatory statement, available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp109:FLD010:@1(hr255).