07/26/07 Free Trade Agreements opposed on food safety basis

Washington Ag July 26, 2007 A Washington state lawmaker and a Washington rancher joined with a representative of the organization Public Citizen in a teleconference this week to voice opposition to proposed free trade agreements pending in Congress. The reason; food safety. Public Citizen says the FTAs with Peru, Panama, Columbia and South Korea would lock in limits on the ability of the U.S. government to ensure imported food safety. That's of concern to Representative Maralyn Chase, Democrat, of Shoreline. Chase: "These agreements, in my opinion, can undermine the exercise of powers traditionally understood as within the regulatory authority of states and municipalities." That's because says Public Citizen, food safety and health laws in the U.S. can be challenged as barriers to trade. Okanogan rancher Craig Vejraska represented R-CALF USA during the call. Vejraska: "They feed and doctor and treat their cattle in some of these foreign countries in an entirely different way with different products that have been banned in the United States for over thirty years." Vejraska and Chase also called for mandatory country of origin labeling. Public Citizen just issued a report called "Trade Deficit in Food Safety." I'm Bob Hoff.