According to Rueters, the Bush Administration will conduct a meeting October 1 to hear our voice on how to "stem a wave of unsafe imports from China and other countries." The panel is head by the Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt and includes officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the Food and Drug Administration, the Agriculture Department, and other various agencies not listed in the article. They will present two reports on their findings this fall.
Comments that we (that's a collective "we" - the only way to be included is to speak out) make will be included in the second report which will "set out specific actions the government can take to safeguard against perilous products."
Many, many of us have already spoken out about these "perilous products" on our own blogs, through email, and at the swimming pools and playgrounds. Now is the time to collect those comments and speak to the masses.
To SPEAK OUT:
1. If you live in the DC Metro area, you can actually attend the meeting (register by emailing Erik Mettler at Erik.Mettler@fda.hhs.gov by September 17). The public meeting will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 1, 2007, in the Jefferson Auditorium, South Building, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, D.C. 20250.
2. Register your comments regarding our current policies at either http://www.fda.gov/dockets/ecomments or http://www.regulations.gov. All comments should be identified with Docket No. 2009N-0330.
3. You can also send written comments to Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061, Rockville, MD 20852 by October 1. All comments should be identified with Docket No. 2009N-0330.
4. If you have a blog, please write a post about this on your blog . You can link back to the original post at the Silicon Valley Mom's Blog so that everyone else will know that we are doing SPEAKING OUT about this.
