When Is a Catfish Not a Catfish?

When Is a Catfish Not a Catfish?
When It Comes From Vietnam and Cuts Into U.S. Sales, Hill Says


By Philip Brasher
Associated Press
Thursday, December 27, 2001; Page A21


It has whiskers and feeds at the bottom of rivers, but can no longer be sold
as a catfish if it comes from Vietnam.


Congress has barred labeling catfish from Vietnam as catfish because imports
are cutting into sales of more expensive U.S. catfish grown in man-made
ponds in the South.


Instead, importers, restaurants and grocery stores will have to use a name
such as "basa."


"We were seeing our market just plummeting with cheap imitation lines that
were taking over the buffet lines and showing up on menus as catfish," said
Hugh Warren, executive vice president of the Catfish Farmers of America.


The Vietnamese fish are sometimes labeled "Delta fresh," as in the Mekong
Delta, not the Mississippi.


Atlantic salmon and lake trout, which are part of the same taxonomic family,
are more closely related than the Vietnamese and U.S. catfish, said Sen. Tim
Hutchinson (R-Ark.).


The ban is temporary. It ends when the fiscal year expires Sept. 30, 2002.


But a provision in a farm bill pending in the Senate would require fish,
meat and produce to be labeled with the country of origin. U.S. producers
are counting on such labels to discourage sales of imported food.


Critics of the forced name change say it smacks of protectionism and could
hurt U.S. efforts to remove barriers to exports.


"Not only does it look like a catfish, but it acts like a catfish," Sen.
Phil Gramm (R-Tex.), said of the Vietnamese version. "And the people who
make a living in fisheries science call it a catfish. Why do we want to call
it anything other than a catfish?"


Gramm and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam
and has become an advocate for that country's interests in Congress, wanted
to reverse the name restriction with an amendment to a pending bill, but the
Senate last week rejected his proposal.


The United States imported 8.2 million pounds of catfish fillet last year
and that is expected to double this year, according to the U.S. Agriculture
Department. U.S. catfish production, which is centered in Mississippi and
surrounding states, is slightly less than 300 million pounds annually.


"The big influx of stuff is coming from Vietnam. That's their
bread-and-butter product," said USDA analyst David Harvey. "You combine that
with the downturn in the economy, which hits into restaurant sales, it has
an impact" on U.S. producers.


Prices for U.S. fish have dropped to as low as 50 cents a pound this year,
about 15 cents below the cost of production and about 30 cents below the
price a year ago, Warren said.


U.S. farmers say the only true catfish belong to the family with the Latin
name Ictaluridae. The Vietnamese variety are in the family Pangasiidae,
which are "freshwater catfishes of Africa and southern Asia," the Food and
Drug Administration said last year after reviewing American Fisheries
Society terminology. The agency decided it was permissible to use names such
as "basa catfish" for the Vietnamese product.


The U.S. Embassy in Vietnam says there is no evidence that the fish are
raised in unsafe conditions. In a recent letter to Congress, the Vietnamese
government said the name ban was unfair. "Vietnam's catfish has been highly
welcome and well-accepted" in America, the letter said.


Southern lawmakers are looking for a more permanent way to block the
Vietnamese fish from being sold as catfish.


"Misleading consumers and mislabeling a product is wrong," Hutchinson said.
"To allow it to continue at the expense of an entire industry is
unthinkable."


© 2001 The Washington Post Company

Garrison Hilliard wrote:

When Is a Catfish Not a Catfish?
When It Comes From Vietnam and Cuts Into U.S. Sales, Hill Says


By Philip Brasher
Associated Press
Thursday, December 27, 2001; Page A21


It has whiskers and feeds at the bottom of rivers, but can no longer be sold
as a catfish if it comes from Vietnam.


Congress has barred labeling catfish from Vietnam as catfish because imports
are cutting into sales of more expensive U.S. catfish grown in man-made
ponds in the South.


Instead, importers, restaurants and grocery stores will have to use a name
such as "basa."


"We were seeing our market just plummeting with cheap imitation lines that
were taking over the buffet lines and showing up on menus as catfish," said
Hugh Warren, executive vice president of the Catfish Farmers of America.


The Vietnamese fish are sometimes labeled "Delta fresh," as in the Mekong
Delta, not the Mississippi.


Atlantic salmon and lake trout, which are part of the same taxonomic family,
are more closely related than the Vietnamese and U.S. catfish, said Sen. Tim
Hutchinson (R-Ark.).


The ban is temporary. It ends when the fiscal year expires Sept. 30, 2002.


But a provision in a farm bill pending in the Senate would require fish,
meat and produce to be labeled with the country of origin. U.S. producers
are counting on such labels to discourage sales of imported food.


Critics of the forced name change say it smacks of protectionism and could
hurt U.S. efforts to remove barriers to exports.


"Not only does it look like a catfish, but it acts like a catfish," Sen.
Phil Gramm (R-Tex.), said of the Vietnamese version. "And the people who
make a living in fisheries science call it a catfish. Why do we want to call
it anything other than a catfish?"


Gramm and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam
and has become an advocate for that country's interests in Congress, wanted
to reverse the name restriction with an amendment to a pending bill, but the
Senate last week rejected his proposal.


The United States imported 8.2 million pounds of catfish fillet last year
and that is expected to double this year, according to the U.S. Agriculture
Department. U.S. catfish production, which is centered in Mississippi and
surrounding states, is slightly less than 300 million pounds annually.


"The big influx of stuff is coming from Vietnam. That's their
bread-and-butter product," said USDA analyst David Harvey. "You combine that
with the downturn in the economy, which hits into restaurant sales, it has
an impact" on U.S. producers.


Prices for U.S. fish have dropped to as low as 50 cents a pound this year,
about 15 cents below the cost of production and about 30 cents below the
price a year ago, Warren said.


U.S. farmers say the only true catfish belong to the family with the Latin
name Ictaluridae. The Vietnamese variety are in the family Pangasiidae,
which are "freshwater catfishes of Africa and southern Asia," the Food and
Drug Administration said last year after reviewing American Fisheries
Society terminology. The agency decided it was permissible to use names such
as "basa catfish" for the Vietnamese product.


The U.S. Embassy in Vietnam says there is no evidence that the fish are
raised in unsafe conditions. In a recent letter to Congress, the Vietnamese
government said the name ban was unfair. "Vietnam's catfish has been highly
welcome and well-accepted" in America, the letter said.


Southern lawmakers are looking for a more permanent way to block the
Vietnamese fish from being sold as catfish.


"Misleading consumers and mislabeling a product is wrong," Hutchinson said.
"To allow it to continue at the expense of an entire industry is
unthinkable."


© 2001 The Washington Post Company

This is old news. However just yesterday the House turned down
regulations that would require the labeling of imported meat from the
country of origion. This is just one more move by the Globalists to
dissolve our national idenity and reduce our producers of everything
down to the poverty level of the third world.