- Joined
- Mar 27, 2009
- Messages
- 887
- Location
- Blairstown, LA
HR2749 -The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009
"To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to improve the safety
of food in the global market, and for other purposes." [emphasis added]
This bill will mean the end of small farms and local food.
It passed the House, 283-142, on July 30. It now goes to the Senate.
Let's stop it now.
ACTION:
Please work with your Senator to STOP this bill. Call and speak to their
Agriculture Aide. Explain the problems and refer them to the NICFA website for
more information. The Senate is on State Work Period from August 10 - September
7. The most effective action is to meet in person with your Senator or
Senator's aide during this period in the district office near you (aides are
just as important!). A face to face meeting has more effect than you can
imagine. It's worth the time and energy. Senate contact info:
http://www.Senate.gov
BACKGROUND:
By treating all food produced in this country as exports to be under
international regulations, this bill will:
Authorize NAIS-style traceability on food
Drive small farms into regulatory nightmares
End local food by regulating growers out of existence
Require many farms, no matter how small, to pay annual fees of $500 or more to
exist
Concentrate livestock and food production into fewer, larger industrial farms
TALKING POINTS
1. Farms and producers that only sell locally and domestically will be
regulated like exporters. Why does this bill treat all food producers as
exporters?
2. Restaurants and stores that buy from smaller and local farms could lose
their sources. This includes organic farms.
3. Exceptions for small farms and local sales listed in the bill are
superceded by language that requires even the smallest farms to have the kind of
record-keeping and inspections that could put them under the same regulations as
huge industrial, exporting businesses.
4. The term "harmonize with international standards" used throughout the
bill, means that international standards will be imposed by regulation. The USDA
will coordinate with the FDA on this Act. These requirements are so burdensome
and costly-with penalties at $20,000 to $1,000,000 per infraction and up to 10
years in prison-that a farmer could lose everything for a simple mistake.
5. NAIS is not mentioned by name, but "harmonizing" with "traceability"
requirements in the international guidelines and standards authorizes the
components of NAIS, so it authorizes the program without using the name.
6. The biggest threats to food safety, and the USDA agrees, are centralized
production, centralized processing, and long distance transportation. The
effects of this bill will make those problems worse by eliminating smaller farms
and local production and concentrating food production further into large
industrial farms.
7. The "Administrator" created by this bill is given authority for
unwarranted search and seizure; quarantining and stopping movement of food if
they think there is cause--they do not have to prove it; authority to require
any farming and management practices they choose on any farm; and more, all
without accountability or judicial review.
Information: See "Welcome to the Global Plantation," at www.NICFA.org, for more
information and page number references in the bill for all the facts stated
above.
"To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to improve the safety
of food in the global market, and for other purposes." [emphasis added]
This bill will mean the end of small farms and local food.
It passed the House, 283-142, on July 30. It now goes to the Senate.
Let's stop it now.
ACTION:
Please work with your Senator to STOP this bill. Call and speak to their
Agriculture Aide. Explain the problems and refer them to the NICFA website for
more information. The Senate is on State Work Period from August 10 - September
7. The most effective action is to meet in person with your Senator or
Senator's aide during this period in the district office near you (aides are
just as important!). A face to face meeting has more effect than you can
imagine. It's worth the time and energy. Senate contact info:
http://www.Senate.gov
BACKGROUND:
By treating all food produced in this country as exports to be under
international regulations, this bill will:
Authorize NAIS-style traceability on food
Drive small farms into regulatory nightmares
End local food by regulating growers out of existence
Require many farms, no matter how small, to pay annual fees of $500 or more to
exist
Concentrate livestock and food production into fewer, larger industrial farms
TALKING POINTS
1. Farms and producers that only sell locally and domestically will be
regulated like exporters. Why does this bill treat all food producers as
exporters?
2. Restaurants and stores that buy from smaller and local farms could lose
their sources. This includes organic farms.
3. Exceptions for small farms and local sales listed in the bill are
superceded by language that requires even the smallest farms to have the kind of
record-keeping and inspections that could put them under the same regulations as
huge industrial, exporting businesses.
4. The term "harmonize with international standards" used throughout the
bill, means that international standards will be imposed by regulation. The USDA
will coordinate with the FDA on this Act. These requirements are so burdensome
and costly-with penalties at $20,000 to $1,000,000 per infraction and up to 10
years in prison-that a farmer could lose everything for a simple mistake.
5. NAIS is not mentioned by name, but "harmonizing" with "traceability"
requirements in the international guidelines and standards authorizes the
components of NAIS, so it authorizes the program without using the name.
6. The biggest threats to food safety, and the USDA agrees, are centralized
production, centralized processing, and long distance transportation. The
effects of this bill will make those problems worse by eliminating smaller farms
and local production and concentrating food production further into large
industrial farms.
7. The "Administrator" created by this bill is given authority for
unwarranted search and seizure; quarantining and stopping movement of food if
they think there is cause--they do not have to prove it; authority to require
any farming and management practices they choose on any farm; and more, all
without accountability or judicial review.
Information: See "Welcome to the Global Plantation," at www.NICFA.org, for more
information and page number references in the bill for all the facts stated
above.
