Consumer Group Seeks USDA Review of Australian Meat Inspections

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) should conduct an "immediate review" of the Australian Export Meat Inspection System (AEMIS), said Food and Water Watch, a food safety consumer advocacy group, in a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. The review is necessary after two Australian meat companies using the system were recently delisted by the Food Safety and Inspection Service as being eligible to export their products into the U.S. as a result of food safety violations, the group said. Lobethal Australian and GBP Australia were delisted this summer (here). USDA should no longer treat the AEMIS as an equivalent inspection system and should stop consideration of a privatized inspection model in the U.S., said the group.