WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. John McCain proposed Thursday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture drop plans to inspect catfish saying a new report shows the program is not needed.
“I wholeheartedly agree that catfish should be safe for consumers. The problem is FDA (the Food and Drug Administration) already inspects catfish, just as it does all seafood,” said McCain, R-Ariz.
McCain is urging the Senate to consider amending the farm bill now under debate to eliminate the USDA safety program that was included in the 2008 version of the bill.
The Government Accountability Office recommended in a report issued last week that Congress repeal the requirement that USDA inspect catfish.
“We felt that the proposed program would not enhance seafood oversight,” said Lisa Shames, GAO’s director of natural resources and environment.
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U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., disagrees.
“We strongly support the inspection of catfish by USDA,” he said. “The FDA currently inspects less than 2 percent of seafood coming into the United States, and this oversight is inadequate.”
Boozman said that thorough oversight of all catfish – especially fish imported from Vietnam – is needed so that consumers are assured they are eating safe fish.
“Without a thorough oversight of all catfish, our domestic catfish, which is raised safely right here in the USA, is jeopardized by the possibility of imported basa and panga containing unapproved drugs and other health hazards slipping through the current system,” he said.
The United States imported about $185 million worth of fish from Vietnam in 2010 that is now marketed as basa, swai and tra.
Brian Ronholm, deputy under secretary for food safety at USDA, said the Food Safety and Inspection Service remains committed to completing the rulemaking process on catfish inspection in a manner consistent with the 2008 farm bill provisions.
Arkansas is the third largest catfish-producing state, behind Mississippi and Alabama. The latest USDA figures showed Arkansas producing just over 13 million food-size fish last year, down from 21 million catfish in 2010.
Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, McCain claimed the USDA safety program for catfish is all about protecting domestic producers.
“Its true goal is to erect trade barriers on Asian catfish imports – to prop up the domestic catfish industry – and make American consumers pay more,” he said.
McCain noted that American catfish producers had succeeded in the 2002 farm bill to limit “catfish” to the domestic species – forcing Asian competitors to label their fish by another name.
“It ultimately backfired on catfish farmers because they (Asian fish) remain popular with American consumers,” he said.
The GAO report found little evidence that catfish are not safe to eat. There have been no outbreaks of salmonella in catfish since 1991, the report noted.
A USDA inspection program would further divide seafood oversight, would duplicate FDA inspections and would cost $14 million a year to implement, GAO said.