"Smithfield and Beyond: Examining Foreign Purchases of American Food Companies", will examine the Smithfield deal and explore how the government review process of foreign acquisitions of US companies addresses food safety and protection of US technologies and intellectual property.
Stabenow, who is chairwoman of the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, along with a bipartisan group of US senators asked the US Department of the Treasury to include potential risks to food safety when the agency reviews the proposed buyout agreement reached between Smithfield and Shuanghui International. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, the group said they had not formally taken a position on the proposed acquisition, but urged the Treasury Department to include the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration in any Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review process.
Hong Kong-based Shuanghui International is a majority shareholder of China’s largest meat-processing enterprise. The company entered an agreement to acquire Smithfield for approximately $7.1 billion, including assumption of debt.
Larry Pope, Smithfield Foods CEO, will be among the witnesses testifying. Additional witnesses are to be announced.
