Please sir...Don't make me eat that!
The House of Representatives has passed resolution 2749 which severely regulates the food industry and America’s small natural food farms. The resolution greatly amplifies the power of the Secretary of Health and Human Services and lays a yolk of terror and bankruptcy around the neck of any organic food endeavors.
The act forces food facilities (processing, packing, etc) to register with the Federal government annually. The proposal would give the government authority to suspend, revoke or cancel registration, effectively putting the offender(s) out of business. The amount of the fee for registration is not stated in the House version of the resolution. The document gives that authority to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Furthermore, the law would require the importers of food, food analysis organizations and customs brokers to commit themselves to additional fees (again, the amount of these fees are not made clear), regulations, inspection and labeling.
Some specifics of HR 2749:
The law, if enacted would require farms and facilities in the food industry to instantaneously supply government inspectors with any and all documentation without legal recourse.
The law would effectively and single-handedly balloon the federal government in many ways, but in one way in particular. Section 107 outlines the “tracing” protocols for all foodstuffs coming into, traveling out of and being distributed within the United States.
The government would have the power to force a recall on certain products they deem unsuitable for distribution and charge the originate facility any fees incurred for the recall. The process would include a “surveillance system” to insure that any offending foodstuffs be monitored incessantly.
The law will require new labeling on products stating their country of origin.
The act exempts most USDA regulated sites and farms that have on-site inspection already as well as most currently regulated alcohol production facilities. Further, the act specifically exempts animal farms that raise animals in compliance with the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, or the Egg Products Inspection Acts. So, really, the entire resolution is an attack on organic agriculture in general.
And while the fees for doing business with the federal government are not clear, the fines certainly are. They range from 20,000 to 1,000,000 dollars for an honest dereliction of duties and up to 7,500,000 dollars for anyone knowingly breaking the new law.
Section 132 amends the U.S. code by striking the words ‘credible evidence or information indicating’ to ‘reason to believe’. Which effectively eliminates any prerequisite for just cause.
Section 133 gives the government authority to suspend or deny the movement of food. Presumably this will be based on some administrator's ‘reason to believe’.
The bill gives HHS the authority to subpoena. The authority to invoke other agencies in the execution of warrants, searches or audits.
The regulation of the food industry does not stop at our borders however. Section 208 specifically states that a foreign inspectorate shall be created. This means that members of the administration of the president of the United States of America will be on foreign soil, enforcing American law.
If none of this makes any sense to you, do not fear. The bill also requires the creation of a public education program that will explain to you the great and impending doom of food-borne illness outbreaks (which the document states is any outbreak of two or more incidences) and the dangers of disallowing big brother from telling you what’s for dinner.
Comments
Regulations are good. They ensure honest labeling. They protect the consumer - you and me.
Libertarians are intellectual adolescents who fail to comprehend the consequences of their failed and flawed ideology.
I do not need regulation or "honest labeling" to protect me, the consumer. I can decide for myself whether or not a product is good for me. It does not take an educated genius to figure these things out.
All this bill will do is raise prices within the organic food industry, and if anything, some of them may close down because such regulation may sap the fun out of their job.
Trent, you are sadly mistaken. Regulations guarantee food is pure. Unless you have the ability to run detailed chemical analysis on everything you consume, you have no way to protect yourself.
Your naive ignorance is quite humorous.
No way to protect myself? That's hilarious. Ignorance must be bliss for you. I grow my own fruit and vegetable garden, for crying out loud. I think I know what I am talking about.
In the state I live in - well, the locality -, before I can sell my food at a farmer's market, I have to let gub'mint check my garden for "safety issues". I have been eating it for years, yet I am still healthy and alive.
Regulation does not guarantee that your food will be pure. All it will guarantee is that prices will be high, supply will be limited, due to cost from government, and we'll see a lack of quality in our product. This is seen in every aspect, from medicine to American car companies.
If you want "pure" produce, all you have to do is leave it to the Free Market. No one is going to buy food that is known to be infectious (excluding McDonalds, anyway!)
I also think that it is funny that you call Libertarians "intellectual adolescents", but I guess you have forgotten or are just plain ignorant, on how adolescents have always won the revolutions.
What do you think is going to happen if government continues to stick its nose into everyone's business?
<i>Regulations guarantee food is pure.</i>
Maybe on Xanadu, Olivia.
yes, i'm not sure why the server is buggy today. I'll inquire.
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