{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20131216151845/http://www.brown.senate.gov:80/newsroom/press/release/brown-applauds-usda-announcement-halting-unsafe-poultry-from-china", "Brown Applauds USDA Announcement Halting Unsafe Poultry from China", "2013-12-13", "2013", "2013-12", "Democrat", "House", "OH", "Sherrod Brown", "B000944", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "In September, Brown Wrote USDA Following an Announcement that It Would Allow Chicken Processed in Four Chinese Plants into American Markets with No Routine Inspections or Country-of-Origin Labeling\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tFriday, December 13, 2013\n            \n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON, DC\u2014 Following the release of the 2013 audit of China\u2019s poultry slaughter system by the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) applauded a decision by USDA to halt imports of unsafe poultry from China. The USDA audit found that China\u2019s poultry slaughter system did not earn American equivalency standards, and today\u2019s move will delay poultry slaughtered in China from being shipped to American restaurants and markets.\u00a0\n\u201cGiven the well-documented shortcoming of the Chinese food safety system, USDA inspectors must keep a watchful eye to ensure that any meat entering American markets meet our safety and sanitary requirements,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI\u2019m glad USDA has taken action to protect Ohio families and consumers.\u201d\nThe audit conducted by the FSIS found that China\u2019s system for slaughter did not meet equivalence standards in two out of six testing areas \u2013 government oversight and statutory authority and food safety regulations. The Chinese government has submitted a corrective action plan and USDA inspectors will reevaluate the system following those corrective actions.\nIn September, Brown sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack demanding answers after USDA provided equivalency standards for poultry processing with the Chinese government. Brown asked for assurances that American consumers health and safety was not being endangered and that the agreement did not undermine confidence in our nation\u2019s food safety system.\nBrown has been a strong advocate in the Senate for food safety, and was instrumental in passing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010. As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, he passed legislation to give the FDA new authority to recall dangerous foods, improve the safety of imported products, and establish a comprehensive traceability system to quickly and accurately trace the source of tainted food in the event of a food-borne illness outbreak.\nIn 2012, Brown led the way in holding the Food and Drug Administration responsible after an Ohio family\u2019s five-month old puppy, Penny, passed away after eating tainted chicken jerky made in China.\nA link to the final USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service report can be found: HERE\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20131216151845/http://www.brown.senate.gov:80/newsroom/press/release/brown-applauds-usda-announcement-halting-unsafe-poultry-from-china"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.753001008182764, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}