Skip to main content

Food Safety: Issues USDA Should Address Before Ending Canadian Meat Inspections

RCED-90-176 Published: Jul 06, 1990. Publicly Released: Jul 06, 1990.
Jump To:

Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Food Safety and Inspection Service's (FSIS) inspection procedures for Canadian meat, focusing on: (1) the process FSIS uses to determine that the Canadian inspection system meets U.S. standards; (2) how current border inspection procedures differ from past procedures; (3) how changes in border inspection procedures between 1988 and 1989 affected the rejection rate, and how rejection rates are used to manage the import inspection program; and (4) whether U.S. plants exporting meat to Canada are receiving satisfactory treatment under the Canadian import inspection system.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture As part of the process for deciding whether to go forward with an open border test, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FSIS, to review and document the equivalency of the Canadian inspection system using the risk assessment systems approach or the proposed team approach.
Closed – Implemented
FSIS has established a process to review and document that the Canadian inspection system is equivalent to the U.S. system.
Department of Agriculture As part of the process for deciding whether to go forward with an open border test, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FSIS, to investigate, as part of the equivalency review, the reasons for the high rejection rates in 1989.
Closed – Not Implemented
FSIS has dropped the open border proposal.
Department of Agriculture As part of the process for deciding whether to go forward with an open border test, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FSIS, if the open border test is approved, to incorporate into the evaluation plan an assessment of the impact of an open border on food safety.
Closed – Not Implemented
FSIS has dropped the open border proposal.

Full Report

Full Report (39 pages)

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

Agriculture and Food
Agricultural productsContaminated foodsCustoms administrationForeign trade agreementsFood safetyImport regulationLabeling lawMeat inspectionSafety regulationTrade policies