John Block Reports from Washington

I know there are big things happening that can have huge influence on the Ag industry. All over the news is -- immigration, the DOHA Trade round, and farm bill. But under the radar, the "National Uniformity for Food Act" is moving.

Something that is not broadly understood, but USDA sets standards for food safety and labeling for meat and poultry products. But all the rest of our food is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Meat and poultry has had national standards of safety and labeling since the first hog was slaughtered. But we don't have national standards for all the rest ofour food regulated by the FDA. So food safety extremists are writing state laws requiring pages of warning labels be slapped on all kinds ofproducts. Whatever the flavor ofthe day food safety scare may be -- "put it on the package, sound science be damned."

I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that California leads the way in warning the consumer about everything real or imaginary.

Some good news -- a San Francisco superior court judge ruled this week that warning labels are not warranted on canned tuna. The state wanted to require warning labels because of a tiny presence of mercury in the product. That ruling is significant because it reminds us that we need uniform safety standards on all foods -- not just meat and poultry. And the standards should be set by the federal government. The California trial lawyers don't want uniformity. That would limit their hunting ground for Tort cases. Our food companies are shipping food to 20, 30, 40, 50 states. How expensive and complicated can it be if every state has its own unique label requirements?

The House of Representatives passed the National Uniformity for Food Act this March. The Senate needs to do the same and quit pandering to the trial lawyers and whining food safety extremists hiding behind a phony argument about states' rights.

Until next week, I am John Block from Washington.