COURT ENTERS PERMANENT INJUNCTION AGAINST DAIRY FIRMS, INDIVIDUALS TO PREVENT DISTRIBUTION OF FOODS THAT CONTAIN EXCESSIVE DRUG RESIDUE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Thursday, December 26, 2013

District Court Enters Permanent Injunction Against Pennsylvania-Based Dairy Firms and Individuals to Prevent Distribution of Foods That Contain Excessive Drug Residue

U.S. District Court Judge Kim R. Gibson of the Western District of Pennsylvania has entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against Metzler & Sons LLC and Pleasant View Farms Inc., the Justice Department announced today.   The permanent injunction was also entered against Rodney L. Metzler, Gretchen A. Metzler, Rodney T. Metzler and Lee M. Metzler, all of whom have ownership in the firms.   The permanent injunction is designed to prevent the distribution of foods that contain excessive drug residue.

The Pennsylvania firms, Metzler & Sons LLC and Pleasant View Farms Inc., own and operate several farms that sell cows for slaughter and for use as food.   As set forth in the complaint filed on Dec. 18, 2013, inspections by United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and laboratory analyses performed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicated that the defendants sold for slaughter for use as food dairy cows and bob veal calves that contained excessive and illegal residues of drugs in their edible tissues.  According to the complaint, these inspections revealed that the defendants delivered adulterated food into interstate commerce in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).  As set forth in the complaint, the defendants received numerous warnings from both FDA and USDA that their conduct violated the law, and despite these warnings, the defendants continued to hold animals that they sold for slaughter as food in a manner that may have rendered the animals’ edible tissues injurious to the public health.

As set forth in the complaint, levels of new animal drugs in the edible tissues of animals in amounts above the tolerances established in federal regulations pose a significant public health
risk.   For example, consumers of edible animal tissues who are susceptible to antibiotics may experience severe allergic reactions as a result of ingesting food containing out-of-tolerance
antibiotic levels.   Furthermore, food containing above-tolerance antibiotic levels contributes to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria in those who eat or handle food containing residues of such drugs.

The complaint filed by the United States asked the court to permanently enjoin the firms and individual defendants from violating the FDCA.  The permanent injunction entered by the court requires the firms and individual defendants to take a wide range of actions to correct their violations and ensure that they do not happen again.   Among other actions, the firms must establish and implement a written record-keeping system for every animal receiving drugs to prevent the firms from selling or distributing any animals whose edible tissues contain new animal drugs in amounts above the levels permitted by law.   The firms must also establish and implement a system that ensures that their use of new animal drugs conforms to the uses approved by the FDA or, for new animal drugs used in an extra-label manner, to the lawful written order of a licensed veterinarian.

“Foods that contain excessive levels of antibiotics and other drugs pose a significant risk to the public health,” said Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “Along with our partners at HHS, FDA and USDA, the Department of Justice is committed to making sure that the food on our tables is safe to eat.”

FDA recently said that it is implementing a voluntary plan with industry to phase out the use of certain antibiotics for enhanced food production.   For more information on this, you can visit the FDA website at http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm378100.htm .

Assistant Attorney General Delery thanked the FDA for referring this matter to the Department of Justice.  Roger Gural, Trial Attorney at the Consumer Protection Branch of the Justice Department, in conjunction with Assistant U.S. Attorney David Lew in the Western District of Pennsylvania, and Christopher Fanelli, Assistant Chief Counsel for Enforcement of the Food and Drug Division, Department of Health and Human Services, brought this case on behalf of the United States.

U.S. AIDS COUNTRIES AFFECTED BY COFFEE RUST

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
U.S. Assistance to Coffee Rust Affected Countries
Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
September 10, 2013

Central America, southern Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean are experiencing one of the worst recorded outbreaks of coffee rust, a devastating disease for coffee plants, threatening the livelihoods and food security of smallholder coffee farmers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that coffee production in Mexico and Central America will decline by seven percent this year and may fall even further next year. The United States is working closely with affected governments, international organizations, civil society, coffee associations, and the private sector to combat coffee rust and mitigate its impacts in the following ways:

Through development diplomacy, the United States is raising the concern of coffee rust with senior government officials in affected countries and encouraging them to provide assistance to their producers.

Through the Unidad Regional de Asistencia Technica (RUTA), the United States hired a regional coordinator housed at the regional coffee association, PROMECAFÉ, in Guatemala to provide regional emergency coordination and disseminate best practices to combat rust.

The United States is providing field-based technical assistance to coffee farmers in El Salvador and Guatemala through the Food for Progress program to assist them to diversify and manage risk.

Through Feed the Future, the President’s food security initiative, the United States is working closely with the coffee industry and other stakeholders to provide training, resources and livelihoods support to affected communities and small scale farmers in Guatemala and Honduras.

The United States is working with national organizations and civil societies to support research on rust-resistant coffee varieties and address the shortage of appropriate coffee seedlings.

The United States is working through the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) in coordination with the International Financial Corporation (IFC) to provide a regional financing facility that would offer farmers medium and long term loans for plantation improvements and renovation.

USDA URGES FARMERS AND RANCHERS TO KEEP TRACK OF LOSSES FROM HURRICANE SANDY

Photo Credit:  USDA

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, USDA

Farmers and Ranchers Urged to Record Losses from Hurricane Sandy


WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2012--Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Juan M. Garcia today urged farmers and ranchers affected by Hurricane Sandy to keep thorough records of all losses, including livestock death losses, as well as expenses for such things as feed purchases and extraordinary costs because of lost supplies and or increased transportation costs.

Producers with damaged farmland should contact their local FSA office. The Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) may be able to assist producer who need to repair farmland or remove debris due to Hurricane Sandy. FSA currently has $15.5 million available for producers in counties that received a Major Disaster declaration pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. Producers located in counties that have not received a Major Disaster declaration should visit their local FSA office for information on ECP if funding becomes available in the future.


Producers with private forest land that was damaged should also visit their local FSA office for information on the Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP). EFRP provides assistance to landowners of private forest land to help carry out emergency measures to restore land damaged by a natural disaster. Currently no funding is available, however, producers should visit their local FSA office for information if funding becomes available.


USDA's Risk Management Agency reminds producers faced with questions on prevented planting, replant, or crop losses to contact their crop insurance agent for more information. Producers who need emergency credit due may receive assistance through the Emergency Loan Program if they need assistance recovering from production and physical losses due to natural disasters. Producers are eligible for these loans as soon as their county is declared a Presidential or Secretarial disaster county.


Agriculture Secretary Vilsack also reminds producers that the department's authority to operate the five disaster assistance programs authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill expired on Sept. 30, 2011. This includes SURE; the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP); the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP); the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP); and the Tree Assistance Program (TAP). Production losses due to disasters occurring after Sept. 30, 2011, are not eligible for disaster program coverage.


To deliver assistance to those who need it most, Secretary Vilsack effectively reduced the interest rate for Emergency Loans in July 2012, while streamlining the Secretarial disaster designations process, resulting in a 40-percent reduction in processing time for most counties affected by disasters. Among other administrative actions, USDA has also worked with crop insurance companies to provide more flexibility to farmers.


USDA will continue working with state and local officials, as well as our federal partners, to make sure people have the necessary resources to recover from this challenge.


Crops insured by federal crop insurance or by the Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) are covered when floodwaters have rendered them valueless. USDA encourages all farmers and ranchers to contact their crop insurance companies and local USDA Farm Service Agency Service Centers, as applicable, to report damages to crops or livestock loss. More information about federal crop insurance may be found at

Documentation of the number and kind of livestock that have died, supplemented if possible by photographs or video records of ownership and losses; Dates of death supported by birth recordings or purchase receipts; Costs of transporting livestock to safer grounds or to move animals to new pastures; Feed purchases if supplies or grazing pastures are destroyed; Crop records, including seed and fertilizer purchases, planting and production records; Pictures of on-farm storage facilities that were destroyed by wind or flood waters; and Evidence of damaged farm land.
FSA recommends that owners and producers record all pertinent information of natural disaster consequences, including:www.rma.usda.gov. Additional resources to help farmers and ranchers deal with flooding and other damage may be found at www.usda.gov/disaster.


To find the USDA Service Center nearest you, please visit http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?state=us&agency=fsa.