Congress Takes Action
Congressional Hearing Details
Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., began hearings this past week (4/24) to review drafts of the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act 2008. Hearings on Drug and Medical Device provisions will continue on this week.
An important part of the legislation will be expanded product identification requirements for the food, drug and medical device industries. Rep. Dingell, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, has said consumers deserve to know where their purchases come from.
Adverse food and drug events: contaminated pet foods and contaminated toothpaste in 2007, and now the recent deaths in the U.S. due to the contaminated blood thinner, Heparin; have all been linked to incorrect/improper use of raw materials produced in China. This has generated a renewed effort in Congress to address the shortcomings of FDA regulations for the global food and drug industry. The United States imports more than $2 trillion worth of food, drugs and medical products from more than 150 countries.
Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., says consumers have a right to know where the products they use are produced. "How are you going to know what is in there or whether it's safe if you don't know where it comes from?" Dingell asked. "For example, if it comes from Great Britain, you're going to assume it's pretty safe. If it comes from Canada, it's probably pretty safe. If it comes from China, you're going to say, 'Holy cats, we better watch out.'"
In order to get this dangerous situation under-control, and begin to restore consumer confidence, lawmakers want to make sure everyone has adequate information to know the country where their food and drugs are made and be assured that the FDA has verified that companies are regularly inspected and certified to be in compliance with U.S. quality regulations and safety standards.
Being C.O.O.L.
Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee proposed on April 17, 2008, that all food and drug product will be required to have Country Of Origin Labeling (COOL).
GÇó Drug labels will have to identify the source of a medicine's active ingredient and its location of manufacture.
GÇó Labels for all medical devices will have to show country of origin.
GÇó In addition to the same labeling requirements as drugs and medical devices, food manufacturers of all kinds, must identify on their corporate web site where each ingredient in a particular food product originated.
What about Bob?
Now this is where we in the 6th District,
and Rep. Bob Goodlatte come in...
Rep. Goodlatte has a history of favoring producers over consumers. To be fair, his position against mandatory COOL requirements, have been primarily directed at supporting the American Meat Industry, especially during his term as House Agriculture Committee Chairman. His bias for a pro-industry stance versus consumer risk minimization, appears to be fundamentally grounded in his concern for the cost impact on the producer side. His statement in 2005, regarding his proposed voluntary Country of Origin Labeling (V-COOL) for meat products, may be an indication of the strength of his support for more robust standards for mandatory COOL , to adequately regulate the safe global production of all food, drugs and medical devices.
"...I have always favored a voluntary approach and the legislation (V-COOL 2005) we are introducing will replace the current mandatory system, with its potential for creating another layer of regulatory and business cost, with a voluntary program," said Goodlatte. "This approach benefits consumers and producers and is preferable to a mandatory program that is more likely to hurt the people it was intended to help."
In the quality control profession, this problem is often referred to as, the balancing of producer's risk versus the consumer's risk. It is pretty clear that the producers interests are being well-protected. So you and your family would be wise to follow the old Latin adage, "Caveat emptor!" or "Buyer Beware!".
Hopefully Rep. Goodlatte will re-balance his support towards consumers on this issue.
We'll have to wait and see.
Progress Possible
Fortunately, the lame-duck Bush Administration has given tacit support, and food and drug industry lobbyists have been relatively muted in their resistance to making progress on this critical legislative issue. Republicans, may finally be feeling the pressure of the November elections looming on the horizon. Many years of increased off-shoring and de-regulation has clearly benefited corporate profits and short-term consumer costs. Now, we may be seeing other significant longer-term costs (risks), that all consumers will pay for, as a result of the de-regulated, free-market trade policies of the past 16 years.
Learn More & Take Action
Consumers can gain some insights into the sourcing of drugs by using a variety on on-line medical reference databases. Or just "google" the medicine name and description. You may have to go to specific pharmaceutical company web sites to drill down to find plant locations.
Then you can apply some of that "free-market corrective action " that Republicans seem to favor, don't buy products from sources that are suspect, until you have objective evidence that these product are reliably safe.
Take Action - If your concerned about the quality and safety of the food and drugs used by your family, it is important to let your representative in Congress know how you feel.
Learn More about COOL and the new FDA
Globalization Act of 2008,
Read more about May 1st hearing:
House Energy & Commerce Committee
Listen to May 1st Hearing:
Connect to the Audio Webcast (56 kbps)