Posted on 08/18/2007 7:51:00 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
The Bush administration is planning to call in customs officers to help overwhelmed health inspectors protect Americans from tainted imports of food, toys and other consumer goods, senior officials said Friday, describing a new strategy for dealing with compromised products.
The evolving plan, to be delivered to President Bush next month by a task force he appointed, also is expected to call for wider deployment of sophisticated technology at entry points. Inspectors would use hand-held scanners to detect the presence of lead, arsenic and other dangerous substances in a range of products.
The plan would emphasize the responsibility of U.S. businesses and foreign governments for ensuring that suppliers abroad met American safety standards.
Even if the president approves it, an "action plan" for federal agencies could take months to develop, officials said.
The strategy would broaden the mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is now focused on preventing terrorism and deterring smuggling.
The plan is a response to consumer outrage over the seeming ease with which tainted pet food, toys containing lead, and other substandard goods have found their way into U.S. stores and homes. Consumers are worried about goods from China in particular, but other countries, including Mexico and India, have long-term problems.
The U.S. imports $2 trillion worth of foreign goods, and the volume is expected to grow exponentially.
"The option of inspecting everything is eliminated by the scope and vastness of the amount," said Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, who is coordinating the planning.
Instead, Leavitt and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said, U.S. companies must take steps to ensure that their foreign suppliers comply with U.S. standards. Foreign governments will be told that continued access to the lucrative U.S. market depends on scrupulous adherence to American consumer-protection regulations, the officials said......
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
First he’s holding the line on spending, now this. THIS is the W I voted for.
Ping!
So nobody anticipated the situation we are in today with imports from Third World Nations where we need inoculations just to visit.
pong!
I forgot to ping you to my pong reply lol!
Forrest Gump.
Ping pong champ in Army...
Oh, I guess I did ping You to pong...
It's that, or do his job and stop making excuses about why he can't do his job. Easy decision.
What's the difference between Michale Chertoff and an empty chair?
An empty chair is not legally entitled to a pension.
“So nobody anticipated the situation we are in today with imports from Third World Nations where we need inoculations just to visit.”
Nah, they just figured we wouldn’t notice.
The nexus of unfettered capitalistic greed and corrupt, immoral communists that don’t value human life is going to kill us.
We can all help our government by not buying anything from China. Let it all sit in the wharehouses and get returned when they find out we don’t need their products.
Hold the importers responsible, why does the government get involved.
How about targeting all things chi-com?
...so, we’re going to turn ‘Homland Security’ into our version of the KGB?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.