American lawmakers are taking another shot at eliminating a controversial catfish inspection program lambasted as a waste of American taxpayers’ money, this time trying to work a repeal of the program into a trade promotion authority bill currently before the U.S. Senate.
The bill, nicknamed the “fast track” bill, is designed to assist with future negotiations of trade agreements. It’s of particular interest now because the Obama administration is currently working on a major new trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, between the United States and several Asian countries.
That’s exactly why Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., are pushing to add an amendment to the bill that repeals a catfish inspection program that first went on the books as part of the 2008 Farm Bill, and later confirmed with the 2014 Farm Bill. The program takes responsibility from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for inspecting catfish, and transfers it to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
“The real aim was to raise costs for Vietnamese exports and drive them from the U.S. market,” McCain (pictured) said on the senate floor on Tuesday…
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