The Whitehouse has established an import safety panel for products coming into the United States. Whitehouse Spokesman Tony Snow was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the Bush Administration ‘is concerned about the safety of imported products that American’s eat and use.’

The panel will examine the safety of imported products and take steps to correct problems, and will be headed by Michael Leavitt, who is the Health and Human Services Secretary. The implementation of the import safety panel comes amidst criticisms of the FDA’s monitoring of the U.S. food supply.  

The panel was created via an executive order from President Bush. While some are praising the action, others state that more funding needs to be given to existing agencies instead of funding a “study group.”

The Whitehouse made statements saying that the establishment of the panel was not due strictly to problems with Chinese imports. “ We get food imports from 150 countries around the world. It’s important to monitor them all,” Snow said(Associated Press; MSNBC).