HHS Secretary Continues Nationwide Fact-Finding Tour on Import Safety

November 26, 2007 - In the days preceding Thanksgiving, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Michael O. Leavitt visited ports, retail outlets, wholesale food markets, and other locations in Texas, North Carolina, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, as he continued his nationwide fact-finding mission on import safety. At the Port of Houston, the Secretary took a boat tour of Barbours Cut Channel to observe cargo arrivals, and then reviewed items confiscated by Customs and Border Protection, an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the HHS Food and Drug Administration. During the week of November 26, 2007, the Secretary will make similar stops along the West Coast of the United States.

In July of 2007, President Bush named Secretary Leavitt the Chair of a Cabinet-Level Interagency Working Group on Import Safety. The Working Group delivered its Action Plan to the President earlier in November.

For more information:

• Action Plan for Import Safety (PDF - 527KB) (Importsafety.gov)
• ImportSafety.gov

Last revised: November 27, 2007