U.S. Panels Unveil Plans for Voluntary Seafood Inspection
WASHINGTON — Two federal agencies disclosed plans today for a voluntary new federal inspection program for fish and shellfish that would be funded only by companies that wish to participate.
The new plan, announced by the Food and Drug Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, comes just weeks after two Senate committees approved similar bills that would set up mandatory, taxpayer-funded inspection programs for all seafood products.
One of the bills, approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee, would shift the responsibility for seafood inspection from the FDA and NOAA to the Department of Agriculture.
The bill would require the USDA to set up the new system along the same lines as its existing meat and poultry inspection programs.
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