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USDA urges new user fees to boost meat inspections
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the wake of several high-profile food recalls, the White House on Monday proposed two new user fees that would provide $96 million to help pay for additional meat inspections.
The Bush administration proposed in its fiscal 2009 budget one plan that would generate $92 million through a licensing fee that all meat plants would pay based on production levels. An additional $4 million would be collected from plants that require additional testing, have recalls or inspections linked to an outbreak of food-borne illnesses.
"Every other facility in this country that can impact your health or any other person that can impact your health ... has to have a license," said Agriculture Undersecretary Richard Raymond. Meat plants "bear some responsibility to pay for part of their inspection fee."
The White House said the proposal, which requires congressional approval, would generate fees that will reduce appropriation needs in the future.
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service oversees about 20 percent of the food supply -- covering eggs, red meat and poultry. The agency currently has about 7,800 federal inspectors. The Food and Drug Administration covers the rest of the food supply.
A series of large recalls in 2007, attributed mostly to E. coli O157:H7, prompted USDA to expand testing and recall infected meat more rapidly to combat the pathogen. Last year alone, 21 recalls related to E. coli in meat occurred, compared with just eight in 2006.
Among them, the recall of 21.7 million pounds (9.8 million kg) of ground beef was the fifth-largest meat or poultry in U.S. history and led to nearly 100 illnesses in Canada and the United States.
Alberta-based Ranchers Beef is believed to be the source of the multi-state outbreak of E. coli infections linked to U.S.-based Topps Meat Co.
In its budget proposal, the Bush administration proposed $952 million for FSIS, an increase of $22 million from fiscal year 2008. The fiscal year begins on October 1. Overall, FSIS would make up a small fraction of the proposed $94.8 billion Agriculture Department budget in fiscal 2009.
(Editing by Christian Wiessner)
