Congressional and Public Affairs
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Andrea McNally

USDA Creates Food Safety Risk Assessment Committee

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, July 25, 2003--The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elsa A. Murano today announced the establishment of a Food Safety Risk Assessment Committee to enhance coordination and communication among various USDA agencies in planning and conducting activities related to risk assessments.

On July 10, 2003, Under Secretary Murano released a vision document to guide continuing food safety initiatives, including strengthening the use of risk assessments to support and guide response to emerging public health threats. The new risk assessment committee will combine the expertise of several USDA agencies to build a solid scientific basis on which to base regulatory and policy decisions.

"The use of risk assessment has allowed USDA to focus its resources on those hazards along the farm-to-table continuum that pose the greatest risk to public health," said Murano, during remarks to the Southwest Meat Association. "Each agency involved in this new committee brings a specific expertise to ensure that our research, regulatory and public outreach resources achieve greater public health benefits."

The committee will:

• Prioritize risk assessments, identify research needs and identify needs for modeling techniques, methods or data;
• Provide guidance related to carrying out risk assessments, including addressing issues such as data quality and peer review; and
• Identify outside experts and/or universities to assist in the development of risk assessments.

The committee will be comprised of representatives from the following USDA agencies: Food Safety and Inspection Service; Agricultural Marketing Service; Agricultural Research Service; Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service; Economic Research Service; Food and Nutrition Service; and the Office of Risk Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis.

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