Reps. Condino, Accavitti, Farrah, Kolb, Bieda, Zelenko, Tobocman, Vagnozzi, Dillon, Gleason, Alma Smith, Polidori, Murphy, Meisner, Lipsey, Van Regenmorter, Kathleen Law, Leland, Anderson, Brown, Byrnes, Cushingberry, Elsenheimer, Gillard, Gonzales, Hood, Hopgood, Jones, Kehrl, Lemmons, III, Lemmons, Jr., McDowell, Mortimer, Phillips, Plakas, Proos, Sak, Schuitmaker, Spade, Stewart, Waters and Wojno offered the following resolution:

            House Resolution No. 92.

            A resolution to memorialize the Congress of the United States to require the United States Department of Agriculture to inform the public about recalls of tainted meat, poultry, and egg products and provide the department the authority to issue mandatory recalls of tainted meat, poultry, and egg products.

            Whereas, The Food Safety and Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture lacks the authority to issue mandatory recalls of tainted or adulterated meat, poultry, or egg products. The department must seek the voluntary participation in a recall by the business entity responsible for putting the tainted or adulterated food product into retail trade. While a lengthy bureaucratic process ensues to implement a voluntary recall, tainted meat, poultry, and egg products are still sold to the unwitting consumer; and

            Whereas, Federal laws currently preclude the department from sharing information directly with the public on the retail businesses that have received tainted food products. Before the department can share information with state officials, a state must sign a nondisclosure agreement to protect proprietary information. These bureaucratic hoops hinder state efforts to execute inspection responsibilities and to verify that tainted products have been removed from retail trade; and

            Whereas, Some states and consumer activists are demanding that information on where tainted or adulterated food products have been shipped be shared directly with the public. On its own initiative, the department issued a notice of proposed rule making to make lists of retail businesses that received tainted or adulterated meat, poultry, or egg products available to the public so people can remove these products from their homes. In a surprising turn-a-round and without explanation, the department recently withdrew its proposal to change federal law from Executive Office review by the federal Office of Management and Budget; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we memorialize the United States Congress to require the United States Department of Agriculture to inform the public about recalls of tainted meat, poultry, and egg products and provide the department the authority to issue mandatory recalls of tainted meat, poultry, and egg products; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.