Lifting Meat Ban Good For Market Competitiveness

US - Allowing interstate sale of state-inspected meat products would help increase competition in the meat industry, said John Hansen, President of the Nebraska Farmers Union.
calendar icon 8 October 2007
clock icon 2 minute read
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"Problems from state-inspected meat plants are next to nothing compared to federal-inspected plants,"

John Hansen, President of the Nebraska Farmers Union.

Under current law, certain state inspected meat products cannot be sold across state lines, despite being required to meet equal federal inspection standards.

Hansen said the lifting of the ban is in the House version of the Farm Bill.

But with a rash of recent meat recalls because of E. coil contamination, critics of lifting the ban are putting pressure on members of the Senate Agriculture Committee to not include it in it's Farm Bill version.

Hansen said criticism of interstate meat shipment because of heightened concerns about contaminated food misses the point of the law.

He said problems arising from contaminated food has come from federally-inspected meat facilities not from small state inspected meat lockers.

"Problems from state-inspected meat plants are next to nothing compared to federal-inspected plants," Hansen said.

He said consumer protection is not enhanced by not allowing interstate shipment of state inspected meats because there is no track record of recalls in those states that have state meat inspectors.

Source: TheIndependent

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