New center monitors safety of U.S. food imports
A new center will target shipments of imported cargo, including food, for possible safety violations; The center is one of six commercial targeting centers in the United States under Customs and Border Protection.
A new center recently opened in Washington, D.C., devoted to ensuring the safety of imported foods. The Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center for Import Safety was created under the recommendation of President Barack Obama’s Food Safety Working Group and will be under the direction of Customs and Border Protection within DHS, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius praised the opening of the center. “As co-chairs of the food safety working group, we are committed to improving the safety of food produced in the United States and also improving the safety of all the food that makes it to the American consumers’ dinner tables,” Sebelius said in a news release. “With so much food coming from abroad, we must do all we can to ensure that it conforms to the same safety standards as our own food safety systems.”
Vilsack commended the close cooperation between federal agencies in the effort by the Food Safety Working Group in strengthening the country’s food safety system. “The new CTAC announced (Dec. 9) is an important step toward the type of collaboration necessary to ensure that Americans have access to a safe and healthy food supply,” Vilsack said in the release.
The CTAC is one of six commercial targeting centers in the United States under CBP. It will specifically target shipments of imported cargo, including food, for possible safety violations, according to the release. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and other partnering agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and Consumer Product Safety Commission, will provide on-site expertise at the center.
“The expertise FSIS, FDA and our other partners bring to the table is invaluable to ensuring that America’s imported food supply is safe,” CBP acting commissioner Jayson Ahern said in the release. “We look forward to continued cooperation with the Food Safety Working Group and its future recommendations.”
