Senate confirms U.S. ag negotiator and USDA food safety chief

In some of the final actions of the year, the Senate voted Thursday Thursday to nominate Doug McCallip as chief agricultural negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and José Esteban as undersecretary of agriculture for food safety. approved the nomination of Debbie Stabenow, her chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said confirmation of the candidate she had waited three months for on the floor to vote was long overdue.

“Doug McCallip has proven himself ready to perform the important task of developing new markets abroad and protecting producers from unfair trade practices.

In a confirmatory hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, McCallip said it was “my duty to break down the barriers” to U.S. food and agricultural exports, urging U.S. trading partners to abide by existing agreements. applied pressure. McKalip spent 30 years in the federal government. He served as director of the White House Rural Council under President Obama and has held various jobs with the USDA. rice field.

As Chief Scientist for USDA Meat Inspection Services, Esteban will serve as Undersecretary for Food Safety, where he will lead the USDA on issues that are now nearing commercialization, from foodborne disease prevention to regulation of cell-cultured meat.

Senator John Boozman, a senior Republican on the Agriculture Committee, said Esteban “has many years of experience and a wealth of experience in performing one of the most important functions of the USDA: ensuring the security of the United States’ food supply.” It brings great knowledge,” he said.