030331 Inspector General Criticizes USDA

Washington - The Agriculture Department jeopardized the safety of the U.S. food supply by letting in 823,632 pounds of meat from foreign plants that might not have been approved, department auditors say.

Some of the meat, imported from 1999 to 2001, came from plants in Argentina, Uruguay, the United Kingdom and Italy, "four countries that had outbreaks of foot-and- mouth disease in 2001," according to a report by the department's inspector general.

Foot-and-mouth disease cannot infect humans but can easily spread among farm animals such as cattle, pigs and sheep. An outbreak can cost a country billions of dollars, including lost food sales.

The report found 66,299 pounds of the meat came from plants that were banned from trading because they didn't comply with U.S. food safety laws or were coping with an animal disease outbreak.

Auditors said they couldn't tell if the rest of the meat was safe and produced in plants eligible for trade because the department failed to provide enough proof of its origin.

They concluded that the department's Food Safety and Inspection Service has failed to ensure imported meat was safe and asked that the agency hand over records of where the meat came from.

Garry L. McKee, administrator of food safety, responded with a letter to the inspector general saying the agency is working on correcting the problems that auditors noted.

"FSIS generally agrees with the recommendations outlined in the report," he wrote.

However, McKee argued it would be impossible to give auditors records showing where the imported meat was processed because the agency doesn't have them anymore. It only keeps records for the current year and the previous two years, he said.

In the report, auditors said the agency has yet to carry out some recommendations from a June 2000 audit. They said the agency hasn't improved how it tracks imported products and it has failed to annually check whether countries are complying with U.S. food safety requirements.

McKee promised that by September, inspectors will improve the tracking system. Officials also will monitor suppliers to make sure they are meeting food safety requirements, he said.

The American Meat Institute, an industry group, declined comment, saying it still is reviewing the report.

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