In international trade, food safety counts against you

Following up on my recent coverage of food safety, I saw another article this week discussing food safety in trade relations.

“The US has the most comprehensive regulations of anywhere in the world when it comes to consumable products…understandably there is a cost associated with that. It doesn’t come free….But it is a lot less expensive that the price we are paying now due to a product that has been brought into this country with questionable safety and integrity.”

Strangely enough, when it comes to trade negotiations, those safety regulations and food inspection services count against the US. For you see, inspection services that are a part of a system of “control of quality and safety of food, agricultural inputs, and the environment” are a part of the over $300 billion in farm subsidies that, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), industrialized countries pay to their farmers.

Food safety is considered a farm subsidy? Who are they kidding? It's an additional cost to farmers - a price consumers are willing to pay to keep melamine and other adulterated substances out of their food.

Whatever. Anything for a cheaper loaf of bread, eh?