Federal secrecy rules still limit the ability of Northwest states to help
with meat recalls, as happened following the discovery of a Washington case
of mad cow disease.
In December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled tons of meat that
might have been processed with beef from the infected Holstein. Federal
officials quickly discovered which businesses received that meat.
But they would not share those businesses' names with Oregon and Washington
officials because the states had not signed a pledge to keep the information
from the public.
State leaders complained the policy hindered their efforts to keep residents
informed and safe. But they have not, and will not, sign the "memorandum of
understanding" that would give them access to those lists in future
recalls -- in exchange for their silence.
"It's kind of a Catch-22," said Tim Church, a Washington State Department of
Health spokesman. "One of our primary roles as the state Health Department
is to get information and share it with our local health departments. But if
we had signed it, we couldn't do that."
The USDA requires that trade-off because meat distribution lists are
"proprietary information," kept from the public as competitive secrets.
Federal law doesn't let the USDA mandate recalls; all meat recalls are
voluntary. Promising to keep sales lists secret encourages meat processors
and sellers to participate in recalls.
That system works well, even in states that haven't signed the agreements,
USDA spokesman Steven Cohen said. Cohen said that "no company has ever
refused to do a recall" and that "recalls are effective in almost 100
percent of cases."
States that have signed the privacy pact do get information to help them
check that businesses are correctly recalling meat, Cohen said. However, he
said federal inspectors do well on their own, citing December's recall.
In the first 24 hours of that recall, he said, USDA workers contacted more
than half of the 578 businesses eventually touched by the recall. Consumers
and stores eventually returned or destroyed 21,000 pounds of the 38,000
pounds of beef and bones involved in the mad cow-related recall.
Many state officials and consumer advocates are troubled by the recall
system, especially the privacy pact. An Oregon Department of Agriculture
spokesman, Bruce Pokarney, said the state won't sign the agreement because
it doesn't want to have to hide information from Oregon residents.
Cost is also a concern, he said. Oregon officials worry that, if they
signed, they might be required to help with recalls but not have enough
money budgeted to assist.
"If this happened again tomorrow," he said, "we'd be in the same situation,
unfortunately."
Pokarney added that the privacy rule has become an issue of "national
proportions," worrying officials in many states. Eleven states have signed
the memorandum: California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas,
Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina and
Wisconsin.
And California is trying to change its agreement. Many Californians grew
angry when they found out that mad cow disease-linked meat was sold in state
stores but that Department of Health Services officials wouldn't say which
ones.
The state wants the USDA to renegotiate the agreement, so it can give the
public more information, spokeswoman Lea Brooks said. She said the USDA
hasn't replied to state requests to open talks. Cohen said the USDA has not
received a list of California's proposed changes.
The whole system strikes consumer advocate Michael Hansen as flawed.
"We think that's outrageous, that in some kind of meat emergency you can't
tell people where it is," said Hansen, a senior research associate with
Consumers Union. "That's only going to cause mass fear."
Hansen's group is one of several that want Congress to pass laws giving the
USDA power to require meat recalls and freely publicize lists of businesses
involved. Previous efforts have failed after meeting resistance in Congress,
he said.Oregonlive.com:
