The Imported Food Safety Act of 1998 complements, and is not a substitute for, the President's food safety initiative. It has a separate source of funding and does not take funds away from the President's food safety initiative.

The legislation responds to the General Accounting Office's recommendations in its recent report that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) be given stronger enforcement authority over imported food, that FDA needs new detection methods for E coli, salmonella and other pesticide and pathogenic contaminants, and that FDA increase the number of inspections it conducts at the border.

Specifically, the legislation:

• Gives FDA new authority over imported food, including fresh fruits and vegetables, that is comparable to the authority the U.S. Department of Agriculture already has for imported meat and poultry.

  A. Prohibits imported food from being distributed without prior FDA approval.

  B. Makes failure to obtain prior approval from FDA and failure to properly dispose of food denied entry subject to criminal penalties.

  C. Allows FDA to prohibit importation of food if FDA has been refused the right to perform an inspection in a foreign country or if the foreign country does not provide the same level of food safety protection as the U.S.

• Requires FDA to increase the number of inspections of imported food that it conducts at the border. Gives FDA authority to mark any shipment of imported food that is refused entry, so that the product denied entry cannot be re-entered through another port.

• Establishes a "Manhattan Project" for development, over the next 3 years, of "real time" tests that yield results within 60 minutes to detect E coli, salmonella, and other microbial and pesticide contaminants in food.

• Creates a user fee of not more than $20 per "line item" of imported food. In 1997, there were approximately 2.8 million imported food line items. This would generate $56 million per year. This money would be used to fund increased border inspections and research and development of "real time" tests for detection of microbial and pesticide contamination.

• Mandates country-of-origin labeling of imported food subject to FDA regulation, at the point such food is offered for retail sale. Restaurants and other prepared-food service establishments are exempted from complying with the country-of-origin requirement.
  
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