Source:  Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 2/17/11

The American Meat Institute decried the Obama administration's proposal in the fiscal-year 2012 federal budget of user fees for basic inspection services and for repeat inspections prompted by non-compliance.
According to the proposed budget, the user fees would generate $11 million in 2012, AMI noted.

“AMI continues to stand strong in our opposition to meat and poultry inspection user fees, which have been rightfully rejected by Congress time and time again,” AMI President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle said in a news release.  “If passed, these fees would ultimately pick the pocket of the American consumer, who has already been taxed once for the operating budget of government’s food safety program. Meat inspection is a mandated federal program which benefits public health and should be paid for by the federal government.”

The budget proposes $5.5 million for expanded regulatory sampling, including an additional baseline study and $700,000 for non-O157 STEC testing.

The administration also is seeking $14.5 million for the Animal Disease Traceability program, which is the rebranded National Animal ID System. Fiscal-year 2011 funding for the program was $8.9 million.

Also sought is $34 million for the Market News program; $200 million for the Market Access Program (MAP); $34.5 million for the Foreign Market Development Program (FMD); and $10 million for the Emerging Markets Program (EMP) -- all consistent with fiscal-year 2011 spending .The budget includes $20 million for the new National Export Initiative, which seeks to double exports over the next five years.

The budget also requests a $2 million increase for the Packers & Stockyards program, and again is requesting legislative authority to collect a licensing fee on entities regulated under the Packers & Stockyards Act.

To view USDA's fiscal-year 2012 budget proposal, click here. 

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.