U.S. Seeks Greater Clout on Food Safety

The Clinton administration will seek new powers that would allow federal inspectors to block imports of fresh fruits and vegetables that don’t meet U.S. food safety standards. The new proposal would involve passing two pieces of legislation and issuing two executive orders. One bill would give the Food and Drug Administration the same kind of authority over produce imports that the Department of Agriculture has over meat and poultry: the ability to refuse shipments of fruit and vegetables at dockside if the shipping country or producer can’t prove that it meets U.S. sanitation and production standards.