H.R. 2749 The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009

Overview

This bill proposes greater FDA regulatory powers over the national food supply and food providers, namely granting it the authority to regulate how crops are raised and harvested, to quarantine a geographic area, to make warrantless searches of business records, to confiscate property without probable cause, and to establish a national food tracing system. Concurrently, the bill would impose annual registration fees of $500 on all facilities(this is per facility not per company) holding, processing, or manufacturing food and require that such facilities also engaged in the transport or packing of food maintain pedigrees of the origin and previous distribution history of the food.

The bill imposes burdensome requirements while not specifically targeting the industrial food system and food imports, where the real food safety problems lie. Small farms and local food processors are part of the solution to food safety, yet HR 2749 takes a one-size-fits-all approach subjecting local producers to the same regulations as industrial firms. The bill gives FDA much more power than it has had in the past while making the agency less accountable for its actions.

The bill was amended shortly before it was voted on to exempt on-farm processors who sell more than half of their product by value directly to consumers or who process grain for sale to other farms. A small family farm could lose their exempt status if they for example make jams or syrup to sell and do not produce all of the ingredients themselves. They would then be required to register annually and be subject to random, unannounced inspections where they would be required to produce detailed records of their business.

Some of the concerns that have been voiced are:

According to the CBO this bill would increase FDA spending by at least 2 billion dollars for 2010-2014.

Even facilities that only engage in intrastate commerce would be regulated under this bill(infringing on state sovereignty). Current law only allows federal inspection of factories, warehouses, or establishments of firms that engage in interstate commerce.

Authorizing the FDA to establish growing standards that could have a negative effect on produce farmers.

Granting the FDA the power to enact an emergency recall order of food products without a judicial review if there is reason to believe it poses a threat to the health of humans or animals. There is concern of abuse of this power.

Under this bill individuals that fail to register a facility, misbrand a product, and are not conducting a hazard analysis or filling out required paper work can face up to 10 years in prison and $100,000 in fines, this could include the family farm that was not aware they fell under the these regulations. Also each day during which a violation continues shall be considered a separate offense.

By imposing the same standards, fees, and penalties on small producers, that historically are not the sources of food borne illness, as large multinational corporations puts the small producer at a disadvantage.

There are no provision in the bill to protect farmers if the FDA makes a mistake and destroys a crop that turns out to not be the source of a problem.

Many of the problems with food borne illness could be solved simply by good enforcement of the regulations we already have and educating individuals on proper handling of raw foods and cooking techniques. H.R.2749 would be harmful to America’s small agri-businesses and have little benefit to food safety. In a June 3^rd hearing

Rep John Dingell of Michigan, the bills sponsor, commented that the percentage of our food coming from out of the country will increase in the future. It would do more for our food safety to have a self-sufficient food supply that does not rely on imported products from nations with lower standards by allowing American businesses to compete without burdensome regulation that produce no real safety improvements.

Richmond Daily News August10, 2009; www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2749/show