264 AGRICULTURAL APPROPRIATION BILL, 1924. 



IXSPECTIOX OF IMPORTED FOOD AND DRUGS. 



Mr. BucHAN'AN. Do you inspect food that is shipped in here ? 



Mr. Campbell. Oli, yes; imported in here. 



Mr. Buchanan. How extensively do you carry that work on ? 



Mr. Campbell. We should ilo it with respect to every importation 

 that is brought in, but we can not do it. The law itself provides 

 that the Secretarv of the Treasury in his consideration of products 

 from the standpoint of the assessment of duties shall tleliver to the 

 Secretarv of Agriculture samples u])on request of the latter for 

 examination. 



When this is done, if our examination shows the product to be 

 adulterated, we report that fact to the collector of the port, and state 

 to him that it is in contravention of the Food and Drugs Act, and 

 recommend detention of the shipment. But we should do it with 

 respect to importations of foods and drugs at every port in the 

 country. That, however, is a physical impossibility, and could not 

 be done if the fund appropriated were multiplied several times, 

 when you take into account the entries of all of the border ports, 

 not only on the seaboard but on the Canadian and Mexican borders. 

 We do have in cooperation with the customs officials what we think 

 is a sufficiently well established plan to permit fairly reasonably 

 adequate control of the importations of all types of foods and druojs. 



Mr. BucHAXAX. You merely have an understanding, then, with the 

 customs officials at certain ports that if any commodity looks sus- 

 picious to send you samples ? 



Mr. Campbell. Our men go to the ports and they attempt to teach 

 them. As a matter of fact, we attempt to train the customs official 

 into a food ofKcial. You take a port, for instance, in the nature of 

 New Orleans, or, say, Galveston, and that port will have several sub- 

 ports of entry, acconling to the customs scheme of ten-itorial division. 

 The ofhcer that will be stationed at the Mexican border points, for 

 instance, will report to this collector or officer at Galveston. 



We endeavor to have our laboratories established at points where 

 the collectors themselves are located, and through their deputies 

 aiTange for appropriate supervision of all importations of foods and 

 drug products at these subports, and if they themselves realize the 

 comhtion of the kind we have described to them they forward samples 

 to us and liold up tlio shipment and we make the examination. 



FOR ENFORCE.MEXT OF ACT TO PREVEXT IMPORT.VTIOX OF IMPURE AND 



UNWHOLESOME TEA. 



The next is the enforcement of the import tea act. This act and 

 the body enforcing it was transferred from the Treasury Department 

 to the .Vgriculturnl DcnarluKMit aixuit two vears aj?o, I think. Fortv 

 thousand was (lu> aniount that was appropriated at the time it was in 

 ft)rce in tlu> Treasury D'partment. 



We arc asking for an appropriation of -SiiS, ()()(), which is the amount 

 wr bad last year. We arc using that organization fairly well intact, 

 attcinoting to hrigiidc it with our food ami ilrug organization so as 

 (o make the work between the two, as far as it is possible to do it, 



