Aussie Proposal To Sell U.S.
Self-Inspected Beef Rebuffed

WASHINGTON —(AP)— The United States has rejected an Australian request to sell beef in this country that has been examined for safety by meatpacking industry workers and not necessarily by government-paid inspectors.

"The extreme reduction of federal oversight proposed by Australia ... does not, in our view, provide adequate assurance of industry performance over time in producing safe and wholesome meat," Thomas J. Billy, administrator of the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service, said in a letter made public Monday.

Earlier this year, Australia petitioned the U.S. government to allow imported beef that is examined by inspectors who are paid by the meatpacking industry, with periodic oversight by government officials.

In the months after the request, meat safety became a high-profile issue in the United States, particularly with the recall of 25 million pounds of E. coli-tainted ground beef.

"We apparently disagree about what form and intensity of oversight is necessary," Billy wrote to Australian officials.

In Australia, government officials said today they have no choice but to accept the U.S. demand, but defended its industry as the safest in the world.

Primary Industries Minister John Anderson said Australia stands by its inspection strategy and will try again to persuade U.S. officials to accept random carcass checks by government inspectors.

"The Australian government remains convinced that the Australian system provides a better way of producing safer meat and will continue to press for international acceptance of its system," Anderson said.

"Any suggestion that Australia proposes to use U.S. consumers as guinea pigs is flatly rejected."

In the past, the Australian government has insisted that shifting more responsibility to industry workers will increase food safety. Meat sold in Australia is already inspected this way.

Like the United States, Australia's meatpacking industry is implementing new scientific quality control procedures aimed at reducing harmful microbes such as E. coli and salmonella.

But in the United States, USDA inspectors will continue to check each meat and poultry carcass as it moves down the production line. Billy said the United States will not accept meat imports unless they undergo an identical level of scrutiny.

There was no comment from Australia, which sells roughly 200,000 tons of beef worth more than $1 billion in the United States each year. Billy's letter leaves open the possibility of future negotiations.