"We did not give them any committment now but they did make a very strong case," Glickman said after a meeting with Australian Primary Industries Minister John Anderson.
"The key answer for us has to do with making sure consumers in this country are protected so we'll have to look at the proposal, we'll have to look at the data and make a judgement based upon that," Glickman said.
Australia wants U.S. approval for its plan to replace government inspection with company-based high-tech meat inspections (similar to HACCP?). The new system would dramatically reduce inspection costs for meat processors.
Glickman could not say when a decision on this proposal might be made.
Anderson told reporters he had been given reassurance the issue would not "drift."
"We've simply asked the secretary for an outline of how they proceed to deal with it after that time so that it doesn't drift and we're very thankful for the reassurance they've given us that they won't allow it to drift," he said.
"We really have many of the answers to the questions about pathogen levels and so forth and we will seek to provide those as promptly and as fully as we can," Anderson added.
He said the U.S. meat industry had been broadly supportive of the proposal.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
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