US sets up food import safety hub

11-Dec-2009 - Last updated on 11-Dec-2009 at 11:13 GMT

Related tags Food and drug administration United states

A new centre dedicated to ensuring the safety of imported food has been opened in the United States under the authority of the government department that tackles terrorism and crime.

The Import Safety Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC) has been unveiled by the Department of Homeland and Security (DHS) to streamline and sharpen federal efforts to ensure food imported into the US is safe.

The new facility has been created on the recommendation of President Obama’s Food Safety Working Group – the body which is charged with advising the President on how to modernise the beleaguered US food safety system. Located in Washington, DC, it is one of CBP’s six commercial targeting centers in the US and will specifically target shipments of imported cargo, including food, for possible safety violations.

Inter-agency

Spearheaded by the DHS, its staff of around 30 people will be made up from a raft of US Government agencies including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Secretary Janet Napolitano said: “In addition to guarding against terrorism and crime, securing our borders and facilitating legitimate trade involve ensuring the safety of imported products. This new targeting centre will enhance the inspection of goods entering our country by centralizing and strengthening federal efforts to protect U.S. consumers."

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius both backed the initiative.

“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,” said Sebelius.

Secretary Vilsack added: “The new CTAC announced today is an important step toward the type of collaboration necessary to ensure that Americans have access to a safe and healthy food supply.”