After a pause for additional discussion, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue signed a reorganizational memorandum that puts the U.S. Codex Office under the control of USDA’s chief trade officer and eliminates the Grain Inspection and Packers and Stockyards Administration as a stand-alone agency, with its duties absorbed by the much larger Agricultural Marketing Service. Both moves were protested as undue kowtowing to agribusinesses when Perdue announced them during the Labor Day lull.
The Codex office formerly was housed in USDA’s food safety wing. It deals with the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which describes itself as a group that sets worldwide standards to protect consumer health and promote fair practices in food trade. Critics said by putting the U.S. Codex Office under the jurisdiction of Undersecretary for Trade Ted McKinney, USDA would put sales ahead of safety. “The focus of the Codex Office aligns better with” McKinney’s portfolio, said USDA, anticipating better coordination of USDA’s trade and international activities.
Paul Wolfe of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition said the assignment of GIPSA’s duties to the Agricultural Marketing Service, “a marketing agency, not a regulatory agency, sends the message to American livestock and poultry farmers that the administration values the interests of corporate packers and integrators over protecting farmers.” In one of Perdue’s biggest decisions, the secretary killed a proposed GIPSA rule that would have made it easier for producers to prove unfair treatment by meat processors. In its September announcement, the USDA said it was centralizing commodity grading and inspection work in one agency.
To read the Perdue memorandum, first reported by Agri-Pulse, click here.