120 projects in 42 states plus the district of columbia and pr and allow gsa to construct new-line and ports of entry and eight federal buildings and implement high-performance buildings and a gsa buildings at least 20 are already under construction the rest will begin soon. . . acronym calgama. it stands for california leafy greens marketing handling agreement. and we're also going to be talking about the proposed nationalization of that agreement. the hearing will focus on bagged or value added leafy greens ready to eat. consumers are quite familiar with those products. and look at the role of private industry and government in regulating these products. and the economic, environmental and food safety impacts of that regulation. now, without objection, the chair and the ranking minority member will have five minutes to make opening statements, followed by opening statements that -- of other members, not to exceed three minutes by any member who seeks recognition. without objection, members and witnesses have five legislative days to submit a written statement or extraneous materials for the record. and without objection, the chairman and ranking member will each have ten minutes for questions in the first round, after which we'll proceed under the five-minute rule. pre-cut, packaged, leafy greens marked as ready-to-eat have become increasingly popular. capturing 70% of the leafy greens market. americans appreciate the convenience of this partially processed product, and are eating more fresh produce as a result. that's a good and important development and will likely help to improve the health of americans. yet, as the popularity of bagged lettuce and spinach has increased, so have rare but serious food-borne illnesses associated with it. outbreaks of e. coli 157 and other pathogens have occurred in relation to pre-cut, packaged, leafy greens, at least once a year, practically every year since 2003. regulation to prevent these outbreaks rests in the hands of the industry. the california leafy greens handler marketing agreement, calgoodma, was implemented to stave off regulatory action by the state of california. it ensured a specified set of good agricultural practices designed primarily by the food and drug administration, to improve the safety of leafy greens. in spite of its name, calgama is having an impact on farmers, in all parts of the nation, due to the requirements of compliance with calgama imposed by national processing and retailing outlets which buy and market their produce. the usda is currently proposing the creation of a national marketing agreement along the lines of calgama. there's much good in the calgama initiative. it embodies the safeguarding of the american food supply. handlers responsible for growers' compliance with food safety metrics pay for auditors trained by the usda and hired by the calgama board to carry out inspections adopted voluntarily by signatory farmers. calgama, however, has some blind spots as well. it condones a processing activity favored by the ready-to-eat processing industry known as coring. coring lettuce in the field. and only suggests minimal guidelines for sanitary treatment of harvest equipment used for coring. in spite of recent scientific research identifying the potential for transferring pathogens deep into the cored lettuce. where the subsequent washing process would be unable to reach. calgama is silent on the use of certain packaging of ready-to-eat produce known as modified atmosphere packaging, the bags of ready-to-eat greens. calgama does not require an enforce at standard of cold chain of distribution. it does not impose tough requirements on packagers and distributors relating to the best consumed by date that's stamped on the ready-to-eat packaging. people have seen those. so they don't have any tough requirements on those packagers and distributors. to put that stamp on there. now, scientists tell us that if bagged produce labeled as ready-to-eat is not constantly refrigerated through the distribution chain, it quickly becomes a perfect habitat for bacterial growth. harmful bacteria, such as e. coli 157 multiply unseen and undetectible to the eye of the consumer. legions of pathogens can thereby invade the up suspecting consumers' intestinal tract, overwhelming his or her immune system, causing severe and painful complications, and in some cases death. everyone who has experienced severe food poisoning knows what's at stake. while it's largely silent on key questions applying to upstream processing and distribution of ready-to-eat produce, calgama has a lot to say about the practices in stewardship. small and organic farmers in particular expressed concern about the costs and the scientific justification for some of calgama's requirements. some of calgama's metrics seem to be in direct conflict with environmental protection and widely accepted agricultural practices. in some cases, streams have been contaminated, wild life refuge destroyed, biodiversity threatened, by farmers' efforts to remain in compliance with calgama. today we hope to address why calgama's regulatory framework has focused solely on farming practices to the exclusion of the rest of the supply chain. it seems the farmers have taken the brunt of the burden of minimizing contamination, when it may make more scientific sense to focus attention on the processing, packaging, and distribution of ready-to-eat produce. consumers have a right to expect that the food they eat is safe. it's in the public health interest that americans consume greater amounts of raw vegetables. but whether or not nationalizing calgama as the usda has proposed is the best way to achieve those goals, is a question of this hearing. i look forward to hearing from all of our witnesses today on this important issue. and at this time, i recognize the honorable congressman jordan, ranking member of the committee from the state of ohio. >> thank you, chairman. i want to thank you for holding this hearing to examine the agreements. most importantly, we need to have a food supply that is safe. americans should be able to field confident that the produce they buy at the grocery store or served them at restaurants will not make them sex. the agreement such as calgama may ensure safer produce. additional guidelines and regulations may be overly burdensome to some farmers, especially small and family-owned and run farms. i look forward to listening to the witnesses about their experience with the marketing agreements. the usda and fda also play a role in the marketing. i'm interested to hear how these roles may change it if a leafy greens marketing agreement is made national. i hope our witnesses can discuss the implications of hr-2749, food safety enhancement act of 20009, which is to be voted on yesterday, and may in fact be voted on later today. i look forward to hearing how your thoughts on that legislation as well. and also look forward to examining the pros and cons of making national the calgama agreement, and thank our witnesses for taking the time to testify here in front of the committee today. >> i thank the gentleman. does the gentle lady from the state of california have an opening statement? >> i do, mr. chairman. i want to thank you so much for holding today's hearing to examine the leafy greens market, the role of private industry and government in regulating these products, and the economic, environmental and food safety impact of the california leafy greens market agreement. the hearing is happening at a very opportune time. and since 2003, pre-cut bagged lettuce has developed into the second fastest growth industry in the united states grocery sales. i'm from california. we believe in salads. and so making it critically important that adequate precautions are taken, and analysis conducted to endure that this increasingly popular food is not just nutritious, but safe. and we've taken steps, mr. chairman, in the state of california to regulate the sale of not only the leafy greens package, but those in the bins as well. 98.5% of the e. coli outbreaks reported in leafy greens have been associated with bagged and pre-cut greens. now, the infamous 2006 spinach outbreak resulted in over 200 hospitalizations, nearly $400 million in lost product, and three deaths confirmed by the fda. in response to this, and other similar instances, industry leaders developed the california leafy greens marketing agreement to allow growers to join a voluntary regulatory framework which now encompasses 99% of california's leafy green business and is being considered for official and nationalization. i chaired those committee meetings, mr. chairman, when i was chairperson of health and human services. the calgma, calma, includes a food safety inspection program conducted by the usda and the enforcement of metrics, regulations developed by scientists, governmental officials, growers, processors, and businesses to reduce microcontamination of leafy greens in the field to the supply chains. while i'm pleased that the farming industry has taken the initiative to create this comprehensive framework for food safety, i believe it's important to scrutinize its effectiveness and its impact on the environment. some have argued that the rules placed on farmers by calgam conflict with the movement towards organic and biological diverse farming methods and could be actually harming the environment. furthermore, it may prove to be a counter intuitive to create such regulations before, that is, there is conclusive scientific knowledge about how e. coli makes its way into the leafy greens supply. so i would like to thank you, mr. chairman, for allowing me to make this presentation. i'm sorry i cannot stay. they just called an emergency meeting of the progressive caucus to discuss the health care reform bill. and it's at 2:30. i just wanted you to know that. but i have staff here, and i will be hearing from them as to the witnesses and their testimony. so thank you so much. i yield back. >> i thank you the gentle lady. i'm sure she'll convey my sentiments in that meeting of the progressive caucus. you can let them know that i'm giving a responsibility of chairing this hearing. thank you for your opening statement. if there's no additional opening statements, the subcommittee will now receive testimony from the witnesses before us today of the i want to start by introducing our first panel. mr. michael r. taylor is the senior adviser to the food and drug at the food and drug administration. mr. taylor, welcome. mr. taylor previously served as deputy commissioner for policy and is a member of the national academy of sciences committee on environmental decision-making under an uncertainty. he's held numerous positions in the field of food safety and research, among them administrator of the food safety and inspection services at the u.s. department of agriculture, vice president for public policy at mon sant oh corporation. he was also a practicing attorney in the field at the law firm of king and spalding. ms. rain pegg is the administrator of the agriculture marketing services, ams. the marketing and regulatory arm all witnesses before they testify. so i would ask that you rise and please raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? thank you. let the record reflect that the witnesses answered in the affirmative. i ask that each of the witnesses now give a brief summary of their testimony. and to keep this summary under five minutes in duration. i want you to know that your entire statement and anything else you want to append to it will be included in the hearing record. mr. taylor, you will be our first witness, and you may proceed. five minutes. >> okay. thank you, chairman kucinich. and mr. jordan. i am michael taylor, senior adviser to the commissioner at the food and drug administration, which as you know is part of the department of health and human services. i am pleased to be with you today to discuss issues related to the safety of fresh produce. as you know, fda is the federal agency that is responsible for regulating most of the food supply except for meat, poultry and processed egg products which are overseen by our partners at the u.s. department of agriculture. fda is committed to ensuring that the u.s. food supply continues to be among the safest in the world. president obama has made a personal commitment to improving food safety. on july 7th, this year, the multiagency food safety working group that the president established issued its key findings on how to upgrade the food safety system for the 21st century. they recommend a new public health focus approach to food safety based on three core principles. prioritizing prevention, strengthening surveillance and enforcement, and improving response and recovery. fda has been an integral park of the working group's continuing efforts to establish these principles. fresh produce, the topic of today's hearing, presents special safety challenges, as the chairman outlined. a number of illnesses associated with fresh produce is a continuing concern for fda. the increased consumption of produce in its presh or raw form including ready-to-eat bagged products reflects growing consumer interest in healthy eating, which you indicated, which is, of course, a desirable trend from a public health standpoint. but these new consumption patterns and products challenge our food safety efforts. fresh produce has the potential to be a source of food-borne illness because if it consumed raw without generally interventions that would eliminate any pathogens that may be present. because most produce is grown in an outdoor environment, it is susceptible from contamination from both oh jens present in the soil, manure used as fertilizer, animals in or near fields and packing areas, and water used for washing or cooling. produce also may be vulnerable to contamination due to inadequate worker health and hygiene protections, environmental questionses, production safeguards or inadequate sanitation and facilities. fresh produce is produced on tens of thousands of farms and contamination is any one step in the growing, packing and processing chain can be amplified throughout the subsequent steps. we also know that the possibility of harmful contamination can be minimized by understanding these potential entry points for pathogens, and by implementing preventive measures wherever possible throughout the system. thus, in keeping with the obama administration's prevention oriented food safety strategy, fda intends to improve safety of fresh produce by establishing enforceable standards for the implementation of preventive controls throughout the chain of production, processing and distribution. these regulations will capitalize on what we in the produce industry have learned over the past decade since we published our good agricultural practices guidances in 1998 and they will tap the best science and develop appropriate criteria or metrics for ensuring the effectiveness of controls, in particular production and processing settings. in the short term, fda will issue commodity specific guidances for industry on the measures they can implement now to prevent or minimize hazards of fresh produce. the fda will soon publish guidances for the safety of leafy greens, melons and tomatoes. the guidance is described preventive controls the industry can implement to reduce the contamination in the growing, harvesting, transporting and distribution of these commodities. it is not enough, of course, to issue regulations and guidances. we must ensure the preventive measures they call for are widely and effectively implemented. fda will work with the state and federal partners to the enforcement program aimed at ensuring high rates of compliance with the produce safety regulations. fda recognizes the importance of leveraging of expertise and resources of other state and federal and local agencies to make sure the industry understands the new requirements and help them achieve greater compliance. one way we could leverage resources is to work with the agricultural marketing service as they consider and implement marketing agreements and orders by incorporating fda standards and marketing agreements and conducting audits for compliance to such agreements, and contributes to the goals we all share, which is widespread compliance with modern preventive control measures. we believe ams by incorporating fda's marketing agreements and standards can help ensure high rates of compliance with fda's standards. in addition to highlighting measures of the executive branch to enhance food safety, the white house food safety working group also noted the need for congress to modernize the food safety statutes. legislative authorities for fda would enhance the science based controls, to establish and enforce performance standards to measure the implementation of proper food safety procedures, access to basic food safety records, and new inspection mandate and other tools to foster compliance and other productions. the hr-2747 being considered by the house today addresses these needs, and the obama administration strongly supports its passage. thank you again for the chance to be here, mr. chairman. i look forward to answering your questions. >> thank you very much, mr. taylor. miss pegg, you may proceed. >> hello, mr. chairman, and thank you for the invitation to appear before you today. i appreciate the opportunity to share with you a brief overview of our activities regarding marketing orders and agreements for fruits and vegetables. as mr. taylor stated, fda is the federal agency responsible for food safety of fruits and vegetables. at usda the food safety and inspection service holds similar responsibility for meat, poultry and egg products. the mission of ams is to facilitate the marketing of agricultural products, ams is not a food safety agency. we are an agency with a long history of working with producers and processors on marketing programs that involve inspections of product quality and verification production processes. under the agricultural marketing agreement act of 1937, marketing orders and agreements assist farmers and handlers by allowing them to collectively work to solve marketing problems. these programs are industry initiated and subject to public review. there's a seven-step process in initiating a marketing agreement. the industry petitions usda, which recently occurred on the national leafy green marketing agreement. usda holds public meetings which we'll be having on the national leafy greens marketing agreement in september and october. we review all comments in either terminate the proceedings or publish proposed rules. in the past we have terminated proceedings. of a potential marketing agreement or order. usda publishes a final agreement and appoints a committee. the committee develops best practices. those best practices are sent out -- are published for public comment and then usda publishes a final metrics or best practices. marketing agreements only apply to handlers who voluntarily sign an agreement. fees are collected from handlers to cover local costs of administering these programs. the act provides authority to regulate the quality of commodities through federal agreements. usda considers the harmful pathogens of toxins to be a characteristic of higher quality products. federal marketing orders and agreements include minimum quality grade requirements, which can identify with the presence of mold, insect infestation, foreign material or other contaminants. the california prunes have a fumigation requirement relative to live infestations since 1961. since 1977, california raisins have required