Comment from David Thornton

I am in disagreement with allowing Interstate shipment of state inspected meat and poulty products. I believe that this rule, if approved, will open a Pandora's box. To begin with, there are reasons why we have a Federal FSIS. I don't think that the state inspection services should be done away with, but I don't believe that their authority or job scope should be expanded, either. If an establishment desires to ship their products across state lines, all they have to do is come under federal inspection. Why reinvent the wheel? This rule will open the door for reduction in federal inspection force. FSIS will no longer have control or jurisdiction over some meat products. What happens if someone wants to export their product? Since state inspection is limited by geography, what happens if there is a food safety issue resulting in a recall one or more states away? There are already more than enough food safety issues (such as e. coli, salmonella, allergens, etc) with a well-run federal inspection program. I believe that allowing food producers to be under state instead of federal inspection will cause more problems than it alleviates. To reiterate: if an establishment wants to ship product across state lines, they only need to come under federal inspection!