Ensuring the Safety of Imported Meat and Poultry Act of 1999

Summary: Ensuring the Safety of Imported Meat and Poultry Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to ban (with a discretionary one-time extension) all imports of meat or meat products from any country whose inspection system does not provide sanitary or phytosanitary protection equivalent to United States requirements. 
Amends the Poultry Products Inspection Act to provide similar provisions for poultry or poultry products. 
Provides for: (1) public participation in equivalency decisions; and (2) public disclosure of noncomplying foreign exporting plants and foreign country rejection rates.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ensuring the Safety of Imported Meat 
and Poultry Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Prior to 1994 the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the 
        Poultry Products Inspection Act required that imported meat and 
        poultry be subject to the same safety standards as domestically 
        produced meat and poultry.
            (2) Article 4 of the World Trade Organization's Agreement 
        on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 
        (``SPS Agreement'')--which was negotiated as part of the 
        Uruguay Round of Trade Agreements--requires that a country 
        permit imports of food if the country determines that the 
        foreign inspection system provides a level of safety equivalent 
        to the country's domestic standards.
            (3) Congress, when it ratified the SPS Agreement in 1994, 
        amended the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry 
        Products Inspection Act to provide that foreign meat and 
        poultry may be imported into this country if the Secretary of 
        Agriculture determines that the foreign inspection system 
        provides a level of protection equivalent to that achieved 
        under United States requirements.
            (4) The Secretary of Agriculture then determined that those 
        countries which had been permitted to export meat and poultry 
        to the United States prior to 1994 had an equivalent inspection 
        system because prior to 1994 their inspection system was the 
        same as that used in the United States.
            (5) In July 1996 the United States Department of 
        Agriculture issued its final regulations for a new system of 
        meat and poultry inspection called the Hazard Analysis and 
        Critical Control Point (``HACCP'') program. This new program 
        was designed to improve the safety of meat and poultry and for 
        domestic plants was implemented in phases: on January 27, 1997, 
        all domestic meat and poultry slaughter and process plants had 
        to have in place standard operating procedures for sanitation, 
        and the slaughter plants had to begin testing for generic E. 
        coli; beginning January 26, 1998, domestic meat and poultry 
        plants employing at least 500 persons had to establish the 
        entire HACCP system and meet performance standards for 
        salmonella, with government inspectors taking samples and those 
        samples being analyzed for salmonella in government 
        laboratories, beginning January 25, 1999, small domestic plants 
        had to implement the rest of the HACCP system.
            (6) In the summer of 1996 the Department of Agriculture 
        asked foreign governments to supply sufficient information so 
        that it could determine whether their inspection system is 
        equivalent to the new HACCP requirements.
            (7) In 1999 the Department of Agriculture is continuing to 
        allow imports of meat and poultry from 32 countries even though 
        it has admitted it does not yet have enough information from 
        any of these foreign countries to determine whether its 
        inspection system is actually equivalent to the new HACCP 
        salmonella testing requirements that large domestic plants have 
        had to comply with since January 26, 1998, and small plants 
        have had to comply with since January 25, 1999.
            (8) The Department of Agriculture publishes a quarterly 
        report, which it puts on its website, which lists all the 
        domestic plants that are not in compliance with the HACCP 
        program; however, the Department of Agriculture does not 
        publicly reveal any foreign firm that it believes is not in 
        compliance even though the Department of Agriculture officials 
        conduct audits of foreign meat and poultry plants.
            (9) At the United States border the Department of 
        Agriculture takes a ``random'' sample of about 20 percent of 
        all foreign meat and poultry, and its public quarterly report 
        shows the amount of imported meat and poultry refused entry at 
        the United States border by the Department's inspectors. The 
        public report does not, however, give the rejection rate by 
        country of origin.
            (10) United States consumers have a right to be informed 
        about the safety of imported meat and poultry from specific 
        countries.

SEC. 3. END OF GRACE PERIOD FOR IMPORTED MEAT AND POULTRY.

    (a) Federal Meat Inspection Act.--Section 20 of the Federal Meat 
Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 620) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(i)(1) The Secretary shall ban all imports of carcasses of meat 
or meat products from any country for which the Secretary has not yet 
determined, based on information supplied by the exporting country, 
that the foreign inspection system actually provides at least the same 
level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection achieved under United 
States requirements with regard to all inspection, building 
construction standards, and all other provisions of this Act and 
regulations issued under this Act (including the requirement that 
salmonella samples be taken by government officials and analyzed in 
government laboratories). This ban shall take effect within 6 months of 
passage of this Act for those standards and regulations in effect on 
the date of passage of this Act and within 1 year for those standards 
and regulations issued after passage of this Act.
    ``(2) The Secretary may extend once for a period not to exceed 1 
year the date upon which the ban in paragraph (1) shall take effect if 
the Secretary determines that this extension poses no risk to the 
health of the public. The Secretary shall transmit to Congress and 
publish in the Federal Register at least 60 days prior to the 
Secretary's final decision all reasons for the Secretary's proposed 
decision to extend the date. The Secretary shall not make a final 
decision on this extension without taking into account the comments 
received.''.
    (b) Poultry Products Inspection Act.--Section 17 of the Poultry 
Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 466) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
    ``(e)(1) The Secretary shall ban all imports of poultry or parts or 
products of poultry from any country for which the Secretary has not 
yet determined, based on information supplied by the exporting country, 
that the foreign inspection system actually provides at least the same 
level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection achieved under United 
States requirements with regard to all inspection, building 
construction standards, and all other provisions of this Act and 
regulations issued under this Act (including the requirement that 
salmonella samples be taken by government officials and inspected in 
government laboratories). This ban shall take effect within 6 months of 
passage of this Act for those standards and regulations in effect on 
the date of passage of this Act and within 1 year for those standards 
and regulations issued after passage of this Act.
    ``(2) The Secretary may extend once for a period not to exceed 1 
year the date upon which the ban in paragraph (1) shall take effect if 
the Secretary determines that this extension poses no risk to the 
health of the public. The Secretary shall transmit to Congress and 
publish in the Federal Register at least 60 days prior to the 
Secretary's final decision all reasons for the Secretary's proposed 
decision to extend the date. The Secretary shall not make a final 
decision on this extension without taking into account the comments 
received.''.

SEC. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN DECISIONS ON EQUIVALENCY.

    In any determination by the Secretary of Agriculture--whether or 
not it is promulgated as a rule--under either section 20 of the Federal 
Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 620) or section 17 of the Poultry 
Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 466) on whether an inspection system 
of any foreign country actually provides at least the same level of 
sanitary or phytosanitary protection achieved under United States 
requirements with regard to all inspection, building construction 
standards, and regulations issued by the Secretary of Agriculture, the 
Secretary shall, at least 90 days before the Secretary's final 
determination--
            (1) publish a notice in the Federal Register that 
        identifies the basis for that proposed determination; and
            (2) make available for public inspection the entire 
        justification provided by the foreign government to the 
        Secretary (translated into English if not originally in 
        English), along with the scientific analysis of that 
        information that was conducted by the Secretary.
The Secretary shall provide opportunity for the public to comment on 
the proposed determination and shall not issue a final determination 
without taking into account the comments received.

SEC. 5. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION ON SAFETY OF IMPORTED MEAT AND 
              POULTRY.

    Every 3 months the Secretary of Agriculture shall publish in the 
Federal Register--
            (1) the name and location of any plant exporting meat or 
        poultry to the United States that the Secretary believes is not 
        in complete compliance with a foreign inspection system that 
        the Secretary has determined provides a level of sanitary or 
        phytosanitary protection at least equal to that provided in the 
        United States; and
            (2) the rejection rate by country of origin of foreign meat 
        and poultry inspected by the Secretary at the United States 
        border.