House Appropriations Committee Calls for Joint FDA-CBP Trusted Trader Program
The House Appropriations Committee called on the Food and Drug Administration to work with CBP to develop a "Trusted Trader Program" designed to allow shipments from “highly compliant” importers to be released with minimal documentation. The committee made the recommendation as part of a report that accompanied fiscal year 2015 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies funding legislation on May 29 (see 14053012). The agencies have already started work towards a test of a joint Trusted Trader program that would combine Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and Importer Self Assessment programs (see 14021819).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The Department of Health and Human Services should also "consider reprioritizing existing funding to ensure sufficient FDA personnel are available to clear shipments expeditiously at the time of their arrival at the port of entry including outside normal working hours and on holidays," it said. The FDA is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA should report to Congress twice a year on the number of shipments identified for FDA examination as a percentage of all shipments subject to FDA regulatory review, as well as the number of illicit or dangerous products detained as a percentage of those held, the report said.
The report also said the Department of Agriculture should suspend current country of origin labeling (COOL) regulations if the World Trade Organization (WTO) determines the law to be in violation of WTO agreements. Canadian and Mexican retaliation against the law would inflict $2 billion in losses for U.S. exports, said the committee in the report. The WTO Dispute Settlement Body is due to release its final report on the dispute in July (here). House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture Chairman Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., submitted the report. The report also asked the FDA to report to the House Appropriations Committee on investigations into pet illnesses caused by Chinese food imports. The FDA has received thousands of recent complaints of pet illnesses from consumption of Chinese imported chicken, duck, or sweet potato jerky treats, the report said.