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# Food & Water Watch Again Raises Questions with USDA Regarding Australian Meat Imports
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/food_water_watch_0814141124/
- Published: 2014-08-14T12:24:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:29:49.000Z
- Description: Food & Water Watch pressed USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to say whether meat inspected by private third-party firms in Australia will be allowed into the United States. The EU rejected that inspection model in 2013 over conflict of interest; the US approved it in 2011.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Politics, #vivvo-import

August 14, 2014 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch, kfried@fwwatch.org, (202) 683-24905

Food & Water Watch Again Raises Questions with USDA Regarding Australian Meat Imports

Washington, D.C.— In an effort to protect Americans from questionable meat imports, the national advocacy organization Food & Water Watch today [pressured USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack](http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/doc/VilsackLetter.pdf?ref=foodconsumer.org) to explain whether meat products produced under Australia’s newest inspection model will be allowed into the United States. The inquiry came on the heels of revelations that [some Australian meat companies](http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/doc/AlamanzaLetter.pdf?ref=foodconsumer.org) have opted to hire private third party firms to perform meat inspections on products destined for the European Union and expressed interest in using this system in plants sending red meat to the United States. 

“I don’t understand the contortions that the Australian government is going through to avoid having competent government inspectors in its slaughterhouses,” said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. “The meat industry there should certainly not be allowed to police itself. Moreover, our government has been complicit in this scheme, first by recognizing privatized inspection in Australia, and now by trying to foist questionable imports on U.S. consumers. Every year, the United States imports over 600 million pounds of red meat from Australia, so it’s critical we get to the bottom of this.”

In 2013, the European Union rejected an inspection model, the Australian Export Meat Inspection System (AEMIS), that privatized most inspections in Australian red meat plants. The EU argued that AEMIS inspections created an inherent conflict-of-interest. The U.S. granted approval to AEMIS in 2011 for red meat exports. The formation of private third party inspection firms was intended to alleviate the concerns expressed by the European Union. There is no record of USDA recognizing this new inspection scheme.

“In June, Food & Water Watch petitioned the USDA to revoke their approval of privatized meat inspection systems in several countries, including Australia, for import to the United States,” said Hauter. “This latest example of the chaos in the Australian meat inspection program is further proof that we should not be importing meat from companies that do not use government employees for inspection.”

Food & Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainable. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping shared resources under public control.

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