Agricultural News
Chairwoman Stabenow Announces Hearing to Examine Smithfield Acquisition, Future Foreign Purcha
Thu, 27 Jun 2013 10:10:10 CDT
Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, will convene a hearing on Wednesday, July 10, 2013 at 2:30 p.m. ET in room 562 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building on the pending purchase of Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork producer and processor, by Shuanghui International, a Chinese food company. The hearing, entitled "Smithfield and Beyond: Examining Foreign Purchases of American Food Companies," will examine the Smithfield purchase, the largest acquisition of an American company by a Chinese company in history. The hearing will also more broadly examine how the government review process of foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies addresses American food safety, protection of American technologies and intellectual property, and the effects of increased foreign ownership of the U.S. food supply.
Last week Stabenow, alongside a bipartisan group of members from the Senate Agriculture Committee, urged Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew in a letter to include both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration in the government review of the proposed purchase of Smithfield Foods. The Senators pressed for USDA and FDA involvement so that the oversight process includes experts on the American food supply and food safety. The letter also raised questions about potential future foreign acquisitions of American food companies such as those that will be considered in the hearing announced today. That letter can be found here.
Smithfield Foods CEO Larry Pope will be among the witnesses testifying.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
