By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The United States could face retaliatory moves from countries that buy its products if Washington enacts legislation on import safety that is not scrupulously fair, a U.S. trade official told lawmakers on Thursday.

"If we were to move away from science and risk-based regulation and erect protectionist barriers ... in the guise of consumer safety, U.S. exports would be highly vulnerable to mirror restrictions, and some of our trading partners would be only too happy to oblige," Warren Maruyama, general counsel for the U.S. Trade Representative's office, said.

Lawmakers are mulling legislation to shore up safety procedures after several incidents raised questions about the safety of imported goods, particularly from China.

The Bush administration has created an interagency task force to examine the issue and give President George W. Bush its recommendations by mid-November.

With U.S. imports already totaling nearly $2 trillion per year, administration officials told lawmakers at a hearing in the House of Representatives it was not financially or logistically possible to inspect all foreign goods.

Instead, the United States should work with foreign producers, U.S. importers and retailers to build safety into the design, manufacturing and distribution of goods -- backed up by government inspection and oversight, Maruyama said.

"The focus should be on managing risk, using the best of science and technology, and best practices from the private sector and governments around the world," he said.

U.S. farm exports are forecast to reach nearly $80 billion in the current budget year, making it "critically important" Congress not take any action that could encourage other countries to close their markets to imported food, he said.

Rep. Sander Levin, a Michigan Democrat who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee on trade, said lawmakers had no intention of violating scientific practices to keep out imports and accused Maruyama of raising an unfounded concern.

Levin and some other lawmakers also complained the Bush administration witnesses -- who included senior officials from the Food and Drug Administration, the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission -- did not appear to recognize the urgency many Americans feel about the need to improve the safety of imported goods.

The lawmakers urged administration officials to include more funding for import inspections in their recommendations.

AlertNet news is provided by