Question of responsibility for seafood inspections stirs up debate

WASHINGTON — There seems to be a general consensus among lawmakers, industry and consumers that there should be a federal seafood inspection program, but they can’t agree on which government agency should be in charge.

Some, including the four members of the Maine congressional delegation, say the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which already inspects meat and poultry, should head the seafood inspection program.

Others, such as consumer groups and members of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, support the Food and Drug Administration, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services that already has an inspection program for canned salmon and other canned seafood that undergoes a heating and sterilization process.

And others, such as members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, are pulling for the National Marine Fisheries Service, NMFS, a division of the Commerce Department which conducts a voluntary seafood inspection program.

William Brennan, Maine’s commissioner for Marine Resources, said the state tends to favor the NMFS option, because “we are far more familiar with the Department of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service.”

The NMFS says that an estimated 11 percent of all seafood consumed in the United States over the past three years was inspected through its program, which looked at 130 plants that paid a total of $5 million for the service.

In Maine, where seafood brings in from $300 million to $400 million a year, state law requires all seafood to be inspected. Brennan said a federal program, like the state program, is not needed so much to control contamination, since it’s not a a big problem, but to restore consumer confidence in seafood.

Jeffrey Caelin, president of Associated Fisheries of Maine, agreed that an inspection program is necessary to calm consumer fears.

“We want a program in place as fast as possible, so consumers can be assured that the product that they’re buying is wholesome,” he said.

The Associated Fisheries of Maine backs the USDA option, Caelin said, noting that one of the USDA’s winning points is its infrastructure of offices in U.S. embassies abroad, which would have a greater capability of inspecting imported fish.

While Brennan says a USDA inspection program would be acceptable and Caelin acknowledges that members of his group would prefer the FDA, the four members of the Maine delegation say that the USDA, and only the USDA, should be in charge.

When the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee Wednesday approved a bill giving jurisdiction to the FDA, committee member Rep. Joseph E. Brennan said he would “really like to see the Department of Agriculture” take the lead role.

In the Senate, Majority Leader George J. Mitchell and Sen. William S. Cohen have cosponsored legislation that also would put the USDA in the lead position. The Mitchell-Cohen bill “will establish an equitable, effective, efficient, comprehensive and mandatory program for federal inspection of fish and seafood products led by the Department of Agriculture,” Mitchell said recently on the Senate floor.

According to the bill, USDA inspectors would periodically take samples of seafood products and test them against FDA standards, and the USDA’s overseas network would be used to inspect and certify foreign fish processors.

Public interest groups, however, say the USDA represents industry, and therefore will not make consumer concerns a top priority.

“We think there is an inherent conflict of interest in giving it to USDA, whose mission is to promote agriculture. If you’re promoting a product, it makes it difficult to be self critical,” said Ann Bloom of Public Citizen, a Washington-based consumer group founded by Ralph Nader.

Public Citizen supports the FDA option, she said, adding that “the mission of FDA is food safety.”

The Associated Fisheries of Maine is primarily concerned that the dispute will delay any action at all.

“I’m afraid all these turf battles will let the clock expire, and we’ll end up with nothing,” Caelin said.