At Waters Forum, Rep. DeLauro, Administration Urge Congress to Improve the Safety of Imported Food

At Waters Forum, Rep. DeLauro, Administration Urge Congress to Improve the
Safety of Imported Food
GAO Releases New Report on Food Import Challenges

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT)
today convened the 2nd Annual Global Food Safety Policy Forum with the Center
for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) in Washington, DC, bringing together
policymakers and private experts from around the globe to discuss solutions
that improve food supply in the United States and worldwide.

"Food safety is an important segment of the science economy," said Waters
President Arthur Caputo. "Rising global demand, geographic shifts in to
production, a more competitive marketplace and increasingly stringent
regulatory requirements all affect the delivery of safe food to consumers. We
are here as a partner dedicated to the science behind food safety testing."

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the House of Representative's leading food safety champion,
delivered the keynote address. She called for a robust U.S. traceability
system, equivalency with trading partners and greater reliance on science and
technology to improve the safety of food imports. "This is about food safety
science and where we want to go," she said. DeLauro said it was critical that
the Senate pass a strong food safety bill. The House approved a food safety
bill (H.R. 2749) on July 30.

CSPI Director of Food Safety Caroline Smith DeWaal said Congress has taken
steps to improve U.S. food safety but new legislation is needed because the
country is operating under antiquated laws and consumers are increasingly
concerned.

The Government Accountability Office released a new report at the Forum. The
report concludes that FDA and USDA have taken steps to address the challenges
in ensuring the safety of food imports but the agencies need to make better
use of data available to them to target riskier imports and learn from the
European Union's system.

The Obama administration, represented by Michael Taylor, an adviser to FDA
Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, said food safety is essentially a supply chain
problem. He described legislative proposals that put the onus for safety of
imports on the importer as the "transformative idea" that would deliver
improvements. He said the U.S. should utilize partnerships and move toward
international standards to improve import safety.

About Waters Corporation

Waters Corporation creates business advantages for laboratory-dependent
organizations by delivering practical and sustainable innovation to enable
significant advancements in such areas as healthcare delivery, environmental
management, food safety, and water quality worldwide.

Pioneering a connected portfolio of separations science, laboratory
information management, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis, Waters
technology breakthroughs and laboratory solutions provide an enduring platform
for customer success.

With revenue of $1.47 billion in 2007 and 5,000 employees, Waters is driving
scientific discovery and operational excellence for customers worldwide.

About CSPI

Since 1971, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been a strong
advocate for nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy and sound
science.

Founded by executive director Michael Jacobson, Ph.D. and two other
scientists, CSPI carved out a niche as the organized voice of the American
public on nutrition, food safety, health and other issues during a boom of
consumer and environmental protection awareness in the early 1970s.

CSPI has long sought to educate the public, advocate government policies that
are consistent with scientific evidence on health and environmental issues,
and counter industry's powerful influence on public opinion and public
policies.

Waters is a trademark of Waters Corporation.

SOURCE Waters Corporation

Brian J. Murphy, Public Relations Manager, Waters Corporation,
+1-508-482-2614, Brian_J_Murphy@waters.com