Vets pressured by USDA to falsify records

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Veterinarians reportedly pressured by USDA to falsify records, report says

The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Some veterinarians in charge of federal meat inspections

say the

Department of Agriculture has pressured them to certify products that don't

meet export requirements, according to a newspaper report.

In two letters sent to USDA Secretary Dan Glickman by the National Association

of Federal Veterinarians, the group said a veterinarian " was disciplined and

forced to retire " for refusing to certify cattle as being from disease-free

areas, the Des Moines Sunday Register said. Other veterinarians risk

discipline for refusing to sign " even the most outrageous and obvious false

statements, " said , a lawyer for the group.

In its correspondence to Glickman, the association contends " there has been a

longstanding practice of (the USDA) requiring the signing of veterinary export

certificates prior to the product even being produced. "

A phone message left at the home of Glickman's spokesman, Tom Amontree, was

not returned Sunday. But Swacina of the USDA's inspection service said

the agency is developing a reply to the association and is reviewing its

" whole expert certification policy. "

Many foreign governments require assurances that U.S. livestock meat be

disease-free, and the possibility of false export certificates could severely

hurt the multibillion-dollar industry that has battled for access. Many

countries are prone to refusing American exports in order to protect their own

producers.