Washington – The flow of products imported into the U.S. each year is so vast that simply increasing inspections would not adequately improve safety. Instead, the government should do more to ensure products are safe before they reach the nation’s borders, an advisory commission to the president said Monday.
President Bush in July established a working group to study import safety. His executive order was in response to growing concerns about a spate of recalls from China that included toothpaste, dog food and toys.
In its first report to the president, the group said the government should focus its efforts on prevention. That emphasis will require the federal government to work more closely with the private sector and to improve the sharing of information among federal agencies.
However, the report provided no specifics on what additional resources would be needed. Recommendations on spending and whether agencies will need more regulatory authority will occur in the next 60 days.
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said the U.S. now focuses on interdiction at the borders to stop unsafe products. “A fundamental change in our strategy is being recommended,” Leavitt said.
PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico
Truck explosion kills 28, injures 150
A truck carrying ammonium nitrate to a mine caught fire after a highway crash and blew up, killing at least 28 and injuring about 150, state and federal officials reported Monday.
Authorities said two trucks smashed into each other Sunday night on a busy highway in northern Mexico. Shortly after a crowd of onlookers arrived, the wreckage caught fire and the ammonium nitrate exploded, sending a ball of fire into the sky that consumed nearby cars and left a 10- by 40-foot crater in the road.
MINDEN, Nev.
Some fear Fossett teams may get lost
Authorities worried Monday that a call for private volunteers to help the government search the rugged Nevada wilderness for missing aviator Steve Fossett may attract people who don’t have proper training and may ultimately need saving themselves.
A private search effort is being driven in part by hotel magnate Barron Hilton, who has opened the mile-long airstrip at his Flying M Ranch – the same runway Fossett took off from a week ago – to search planes and helicopters.
LOS ANGELES
Spector murder case goes to the jurors
The murder case against record producer Phil Spector went to jurors Monday after Spector’s wife sparred with the judge over a gag order and Spector denied he had criticized the judge and jury pool.
Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler sent the jurors into deliberations after asking if any had heard or seen news reports over the weekend that could affect their discussions. No one raised a hand.
The London newspaper The Mail reported Sunday that Spector had told a documentary filmmaker that most of the prospective jurors thought he was either guilty or insane and that Fidler “doesn’t like me.”
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
Man gets 24 years for aiding terrorists
A California man was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison Monday for attending an al-Qaeda terrorist training camp in Pakistan and returning to the United States “willing to wage violent jihad.”
Hamid Hayat, a U.S. citizen who turned 25 Monday, was convicted in 2006 of providing material support to terrorists and lying about it to FBI agents. Prosecutors said Hayat intended to attack hospitals, banks, grocery stores and government buildings.
KINSHASA, Congo
Illness confirmed as Ebola fever
Lab results have confirmed a deadly illness outbreak in southeastern Congo as Ebola fever, officials said Monday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and another lab in Gabon confirmed the disease as a hemorrhagic fever, and specifically as Ebola, Health Minister Makwenge Kaput said. More than 100 people have died of the illness in the region since late August.
