Undermining Food Safety
Undermining Food Safety
Trade pacts can require us to limit food labeling and to import foods like meat and poultry that do not meet U.S. food safety standards
Our current trade agreements limit signatory countries’ food safety policies. Even as these agreements have resulted in a flood of imported food, they force U.S. consumers to rely on other countries’ food safety and inspection systems.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspects less than 1 percent of all dairy, seafood, and fruit imports for health hazards and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspects less than 10 percent of imported meat.
It’s a recipe for disaster to rely on agribusiness firms that have moved their production offshore and on foreign governments and their food safety systems to protect Americans’ food safety.
But the “trade” agreement rules require us to import meat and poultry imports from any processing facility in any country that are deemed to have “equivalent” safety standards, even if core parts of our food safety requirements are not met.
Before the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) the U.S. only accepted imports from one Mexican plant specifically certified by U.S. health inspectors. Now we must accept all meat and poultry from any Mexican or Canadian processing plant.
Even after infrequent USDA spot checks of a sample of Canadian and Mexican processing plants found major health threats, their safety regimes are still deemed “equivalent” to U.S. standards.
Most recently, China’s poultry safety system will be declared “equivalent” opening the door to imports of chicken from a country with deadly food safety problems and widespread avian flu outbreaks.
And labels that reveal where food comes from and how it is processed are considered “illegal trade barriers.”
Corporate Power Before Consumer Health
Under this corporate-rigged “trade” model, any U.S. food safety rule on pesticides, labeling or additives higher than international standards can be subject to challenge as “illegal trade barriers.”
The United States has been required to eliminate these rules and allow in the unsafe food under threat of trade sanctions.
The rapid growth in imported food means that U.S. consumers are increasingly being forced to rely on foreign governments to regulate the safety of foods sold and consumed here.
Unfortunately, recent experience has highlighted that many foreign regulatory systems are simply not up to the task. Thus, relying on foreign governments and their food safety systems to protect Americans’ health is a recipe for disaster.
Food Labels
Even consumer-friendly food labels are undermined by corporate trade deals.
Mexico and Canada successfully trade challenged the popular U.S. Country of Origin meat labels that used to let consumer know where the beef, pork and poultry they bought was raised and slaughtered.
In the face of more than a billion dollars in trade sanctions, the Obama administration eliminated the popular law in 2015.
Under NAFTA and other pacts, a foreign meat processing or food corporation operating within the United States can directly challenge our policies that they claim undermine their investment “expectations.”
This creates the potential for a barrage of new demands for taxpayer compensation from multinational corporations using special corporate rights given to them in trade agreements.
Featured Resources
- Public Citizen’s NAFTA 2.0 Text Analysis: Food Safety (October 15, 2018)
- NAFTA’s Legacy: Empty Promises for U.S. Farmers (February 27, 2017)
- Food Imports to United States Soar During NAFTA-WTO Trade Agreement Era, Threatening American Farmers and Food Safety (June 2017)
- Press Release: WTO Authorizes Over $1 Billion in Sanctions Unless U.S. Guts Popular Country-of-Origin Meat Labels, Disproving Obama Claim That Trade Pacts Can’t Undermine Public Interest Policies (December 7, 2015)
- Press Release: Hidden in the Omnibus: To Comply With World Trade Organization, Congress Kills Country-of-Origin Meat Labels That 90 Percent of Americans Support (December 18, 2015)
- Sierra Club: The WTO Just Dealt a Blow to U.S. Consumers and Dolphins (November 20, 2015)
- ABC News: Will Shrimp Safety Questions Pose Jumbo Problem for Trade Deal? (June 11, 2015)
Reports and Memos | Press Room | Congress Speaks Out | Partners’ Reports and Memos
Public Citizen Factsheets, Reports & Memos
- Measuring Stick on NAFTA: Replacing NAFTA With a Deal That Delivers Broad Benefits (January 26, 2018)
- Import Alert: Careful What You Eat During Thanksgiving (November 21, 2017)
- Food Imports to United States Soar During NAFTA-WTO Trade Agreement Era, Threatening American Farmers and Food Safety (June 2017)
- NAFTA’s Legacy: Empty Promises for U.S. Farmers (February 27, 2017)
- Don’t Believe the Hype: Agricultural Exports Lag under Trade Deals, Belying Empty Promises Recycled for the TPP (July 2, 2015)
Public Citizen Press Releases & Statements
- President Trump’s Executive Orders Formally Bury TPP’s Corpse, but What About TTIP, TISA, China BIT? (January 23, 2017)
- The Burial of the Zombie TPP: Statement from GTW Director Lori Wallach on President-Elect Trump’s Statement on Withdrawing the U.S. From Being a TPP Signatory (November 22, 2016)
- TPP RIP: Statement from GTW Director Lori Wallach on the Demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the Lame-Duck Session of Congress (November 15, 2016)
- Press Release: Hidden in the Omnibus: To Comply With World Trade Organization, Congress Kills Country-of-Origin Meat Labels That 90 Percent of Americans Support (December 18, 2015)
- Press Release: WTO Authorizes Over $1 Billion in Sanctions Unless U.S. Guts Popular Country-of-Origin Meat Labels, Disproving Obama Claim That Trade Pacts Can’t Undermine Public Interest Policies (December 7, 2015)
- House Expected to Vote Wednesday to Repeal Country-of-Origin Meat Labels Due to a Trade Agreement Provision That Is Replicated in the TPP (June 9, 2015)
- World Trade Organization Rules Against Popular U.S. Country-of-Origin Meat Labels on Which Consumers Rely (October 20, 2014)
- USDA Stands Firm on Consumer Meat Labels; Will the WTO Continue Its Anti-Consumer Legacy and Authorize Trade Sanctions? (May 23, 2013)
Members of Congress Speak Out
- Rep. DeFazio Statement on H.R. 2393, the Country of Origin Labeling Amendments Act (June 10, 2015)
- Rep. DeLauro Calls For Release Of Trans-Pacific Partnership Food Safety Chapter (May 14, 2015)
- Bipartisan Congressional Letter Highlights Dangers of Vietnamese Seafood in TPP (May 13, 2014)
- Reps. DeFazio, Blumenauer, 120 Members of Congress Urge Environmental Protections to Promote Sustainable Fishery Management in the TPP (February 20, 2014)
- Members of Congress Send a Letter to USTR Calling for Protection of Dolphin-Safe Tuna labeling in the TPP (October 25, 2012)
- Rep. DeLauro to USTR: Food Safety Critical Issue in Upcoming Trade Talks (September 7, 2011)
Civil Society Organizations Speak Out
- Food & Water Watch: Trans-Pacific Partnership: Increasing the Gusher of Risky, Imported Fish (November 7, 2013)
- Food & Water Watch: Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – Fast Track to a Rising Tide of Imported Fish (April 2014)
- TPP – Fast Track to a Gusher of Imported Fish (April 2014)
- Food & Water Watch: Fact Sheet on the TPP and the Fast Track to a Gusher of Imported Fish (April 2014)
- Sierra Club: The WTO Just Dealt a Blow to U.S. Consumers and Dolphins (November 20, 2015)
- 160+ Farm and Food Groups Ask Congress to Reject TPP, Stand Up for Independent Farmers and Ranchers (April 27, 2016)
- Food & Water Watch: Curious Catfish Shipments Highlight Need to Stop the TPP. (June 7, 2016)
- Food & Water Watch: The alarming volume of food imports turned away at U.S. borders is raising some disturbing implications for the safety of our food under the TPP. (August 12, 2016)
- Consumers Union and Consumer Federation of America Urge Congress Not To Support Approval of the TPP (September 7, 2016)