October 16, 2013 — Food safety inspections at Maine’s seafood processing plants are delayed by a few weeks because of the federal government shutdown, state officials said Tuesday, and if the shutdown persists, it could cause more severe problems with the annual inspection program.
“It has so far had a minimal impact on us. If it went on for too long, we would have to analyze what we could do,” said Ron Dyer, director of quality assurance and regulations for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.
As part of the Food and Drug Administration’s sweeping food safety program, the federal agency contracts with Maine, which does 32 unannounced safety inspections per year at about 40 seafood processing plants. Maine receives about $800 for each inspection from the FDA, and coordinates inspections with the agency’s staff.
Dyer said he’s not sure if the state will be permitted to temporarily cover the cost of the program if the shutdown continues. Once the federal government reopens, he said, the seafood inspections could resume late this year or be shifted to the beginning of 2014.
Dyer said the state may do abbreviated inspections of the seafood processing plants in the interim, depending on how long the shutdown lasts.
Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald