Senate Votes to Scrap Catfish Inspection Program

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — May 25, 2016, 11:34 AM ET

The Senate has voted to scrap a new catfish inspection program that critics have argued is wasteful and unnecessary.

The vote Wednesday comes just after President Barack Obama visited Vietnam, a major exporter of catfish to the United States and critic of the program. The Senate has approved by 55-43 a resolution that would void the regulations, if the House also approves it and Obama signs on.

The inspection program was first created by Congress in the 2008 farm law and is championed by lawmakers from catfish-producing states. The law took safety oversight of catfish and other ray-finned fish away from the Food and Drug Administration and gave that authority to the Agriculture Department, which does more frequent inspections.

Supporters say the inspections are a precaution against tainted imports.