New Food-Safety Center for Imports Opens

The Department of Homeland Security was commended by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius this week for opening a center devoted to ensuring the safety of foods imported to the United States. The Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC) for Import Safety is operating under the direction of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Located in Washington, D.C., the import safety CTAC is one of CBP's six commercial targeting centers in the United States. It will specifically target shipments of imported cargo, including food, for possible safety violations.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and other partnering government agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, will provide on-site expertise at the center.

FSIS will extend its enforcement efforts to target ineligible imports and investigate suspicious shipments based on manifest information filed prior to the arrival of goods at U.S. ports, as part of its collaboration with CBP.

Reprinted in part from MeatPoultry.com