Single food safety agency could provide benefits, says GAO

Food & Drink Weekly, March 7, 2005

Other Western developed nations that have consolidated their food safety systems say they have improved the effectiveness or efficiency of those systems, reduced overlap in inspections and achieved more consistent or timely enforcement of food safety laws and regulations, according to a GAO report. In addition to these qualitative benefits, officials from several of the countries identified areas where they believe financial savings may be achieved as a result of consolidation, says GAO.

Some members of Congress in the past have proposed a similar, consolidated approach to food safety in the United States, but have been rebuffed by the bureaucracies that would be affected by such action. In comments to GAO about the report's findings, both USDA and FDA said the consolidation experiences of the seven countries studied for the report have limited applicability to the U.S. food safety system because the seven are much smaller than the United States. The two agencies also said they believe they are working together effectively to ensure the safety of the U.S. food supply. The seven countries in the study are Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

"Although the seven countries we reviewed are much smaller than the United States, they are also high-income countries where consumers have very high expectations for food safety," says GAO in concluding remarks. "Consequently, we believe that the countries' experiences in consolidating food safety systems can offer useful information to U.S. policymakers."