HOUSTON, Nov. 21, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt visited with officials from the Port of Houston Authority, Customs and Border Protection and the Food and Drug Administration at the PHA's Barbours Cut Terminal to discuss import safety and ways to better protect consumers. As the holiday season approaches, many Americans have questions about the safety of food and products they buy -- many of which are imported.
Photos accompanying this release are available at http://media.primezone.com/poha/
"Consumers are demanding what the world can provide," Secretary Leavitt said. "With 825,000 different shippers and $2 trillion worth of goods imported every year, however, we can't inspect everything. So we must build quality in at every step of the way."
U.S. Rep. Gene Green, who was also in attendance, said, "The Port of Houston is the largest port in the Gulf of Mexico. We must ensure the purity of import products in the containers that enter out port."
Leavitt recently presented President Bush with an Action Plan developed by an intra-governmental Import Safety Working Group to provide specific recommendations to enhance the safety of the increasing volume of imports entering the United States. Increased penalties of up to $10 million, new certification methods, enhanced enforcement authority and a larger U.S. presence at overseas facilities are just some of the provisions of the Action Plan.
Officials took a short tour on the Houston Pilots Boat to observe cargo ships docked at Barbours Cut. Products seized by both agencies were on display and officials were given a close-up look at the CBP's VACIS machine, which uses gamma ray technology to view cargo. A CBP staff member and her canine partner also gave a demonstration of package inspection.
"Our food supply is safe," Leavitt said. "But it's not perfect. We must continue to improve. And when you're shopping for toys or other products during the holidays, don't just read the label but heed the label. Be assured that our product standards are the highest in the world and we will continue to improve."
The Port of Houston Authority owns and operates the public facilities located along the Port of Houston, the 25-mile-long complex of diversified public and private facilities designed for handling general cargo, containers, grain and other dry bulk materials, project and heavy lift cargo, and other types of cargo. Each year, more than 7,000 vessels call at the port, which ranks first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne tonnage, second in overall total tonnage, and 10th largest in the world. The Port Authority plays a vital role in ensuring navigational safety along the Houston Ship Channel, which has been instrumental in Houston's development as a center of international trade. The Barbours Cut Container Terminal and Central Maintenance Facility are the first of any U.S. port facilities to develop and implement an innovative Environmental Management System that meets the rigorous standards of ISO 14001. Additionally, the port is an approved delivery point for Coffee "C" futures contracts traded on the New York Board of Trade's Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange.
For more information, please visit www.portofhouston.com
Members of the public who wish to speak at a Port Commission meeting will be asked to sign in at the 4th floor lobby area. They may speak when the Chair calls on them during the appearances portion of the agenda and their comments will be limited to three minutes. The public comment protocol is available on the PHA Web site, at: http://portofhouston.com/publicrelations/meetings.html
To access the port's web site photo gallery, please visit http://www.portofhouston.com/publicrelations/publicrelations.html and click the link for PHA Photo Gallery.
The Port of Houston Authority logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=720
Photos are also available via AP PhotoExpress.
