U.S.-Canadian Food Safety: Opportunities for Sharing Information and Coordinating Inspections
RCED-95-45
Published: Nov 22, 1994. Publicly Released: Nov 22, 1994.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
GAO reviewed how the United States and Canada share information on and coordinate activities for shipments of unsafe imported foods, focusing on whether opportunities exist to make better use of limited inspection resources and thereby increase the likelihood that unsafe imported foods would be stopped from entering the United States and Canada.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Agriculture | To better ensure the safety of imported foods and to make better use of limited resources, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services should take the lead in developing, in concert with their Canadian counterparts and to the extent necessary with the U.S. Customs Service, a more comprehensive system for sharing crucial information on and coordinating activities for unsafe imported foods. As part of this comprehensive system, the agencies should consider coordinating U.S. and Canadian inspections of foreign food processing plants. |
Closed – Implemented
FDA has begun holding trilateral meetings with its NAFTA partners (Canada and Mexico) to find ways to improve communication and operations. In this regard, an FDA working group held its first telephone conversation with its NAFTA partners and additional meetings have been scheduled.
|
| Department of Health and Human Services | To better ensure the safety of imported foods and to make better use of limited resources, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services should take the lead in developing, in concert with their Canadian counterparts and to the extent necessary with the U.S. Customs Service, a more comprehensive system for sharing crucial information on and coordinating activities for unsafe imported foods. As part of this comprehensive system, the agencies should consider coordinating U.S. and Canadian inspections of foreign food processing plants. |
Closed – Implemented
At the April 1995 technical meeting of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the issue of coordinating inspections of foreign plants was discussed. It was agreed to look for opportunities to not only coordinate review activities, but to share the findings of each country's reviews of foreign establishments.
|
| Department of Health and Human Services | The Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services should direct that the Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Food and Drug Administration ensure that available information on rejected shipments being sent to Canada is transmitted to the Canadian government and that information from the Canadian government on such shipments being sent to the United States is consistently followed up. |
Closed – Not Implemented
USDA has no plans to change the procedures. It believes that strong measures already exist to prevent products from third countries that are rejected by Canada from finding their way into the United States and vice versa.
|
| Department of Agriculture | The Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services should direct that the Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Food and Drug Administration ensure that available information on rejected shipments being sent to Canada is transmitted to the Canadian government and that information from the Canadian government on such shipments being sent to the United States is consistently followed up. |
Closed – Implemented
FDA has decided to put its import inspection decisions on the Internet, thus providing world-wide access. However, GAO does not believe this is fully responsive to the recommendation because of the lack of a consistent follow-up mechanism.
|
Full Report
Office of Public Affairs
Topics
Agricultural policiesAgricultural productsContaminated foodsCustoms administrationFood inspectionFood safetyImport regulationInternational agreementsInternational cooperationRegulatory agencies