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Food Safety and Quality: Five Countries' Efforts to Meet U.S. Requirements on Imported Produce

RCED-90-55 Published: Mar 22, 1990. Publicly Released: Mar 30, 1990.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed: (1) government and private-sector pesticide controls over exported fresh produce in five countries; (2) federal agencies' efforts to help foreign countries improve their pesticide registration and practices; and (3) U.S., state, and private industry responsibilities in monitoring imported produce.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter Status Comments
Congress may wish to consider establishing tolerances for additional crops and increasing the flow of information, which could help: (1) increase U.S. consumers' confidence about the safety and quality of imported foods; (2) provide U.S. consumers with a larger variety of foods during a greater part of the year; and (3) developing countries, many of which are debtor nations, increase their exports to the United States.
Closed – Not Implemented
The intent of the recommendation was to facilitate congressional debate on some of these issues. Much debate on the issues did take place during consideration of the 1990 farm bill. However, specific actions were not intended or recommended. Therefore, the recommendation should be closed at this time.

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Topics

Consumer protectionFarm produceFood and drug lawFood inspectionForeign trade policiesImport regulationPesticide regulationFood safetyQuality assuranceStandards evaluation