FSMA Stumbles Into 2012, Already Behind the 8-Ball
Tags: deadlines, FDA, food allergies, food safety, food safety modernization act, FSMA, GAP, HARPC, implementation, obama, timeline
This month marks the 1-year anniversary of President Obama signing into law the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). One of the key implementation dates from the Act was January 4th, 2012, by when the following significant steps were to have been taken by FDA:
• Guidance for very small business exemptions from HARPC requirements
• Updated Good Agricultural Practices guidance for fresh produce
• Guidance related to intentional adulteration of food and mitigation strategies
• “National Agriculture and Food Defense Strategy” issued to Congress and public
• Study concerning unique identification numbers for food facilities and brokers
• Food allergy guidelines for schools and early education (with Dept of Ed)
• Designation of “high-risk foods” for which additional recordkeeping would be required
• Designation of 5 “Food Safety Centers of Excellence” to respond to outbreaks
• Grocery store recall posting requirements
• Regulations for a Foreign Supplier Verification Program
This list does not include all the items Congress instructed FDA to accomplish by January 4th but it does contain some of the most important action items related to food safety. So how is FDA doing? The agency has missed the anniversary deadline for these important items as none have yet been accomplished. Although this is not the first time the FDA has struggled to stay on top of its implementation deadlines for new regulatory requirements, it does officially mark the first set of missed benchmarks for 2012 related to the Food Safety Modernization Act.
“Although it can feel frustrating to wait on an overstuffed federal agency to provide more details about how it will soon dramatically enhance its regulatory authority – I do not find it to be too frustrating”, said Ben England, Founder and CEO of FDAImports.com. “In one sense, however, these are very complicated guidances and regulations FDA is expected to issue. It is better that it take longer and perhaps get it right.”
The next due date in FSMA’s implementation timeline is July 4th of this year where more guidance documents are due from FDA concerning traceability and tracking, consumer information reporting, a third-party auditing program, and more. The final implementation dates for FSMA are January 4th, 2013 and July 4th, 2013.
I have a suggestion for dramatically reducing the costs being incurred by FDA to verify the purity of fruits and vegetables coming into the U.S. from foreign sources. I introduced this approach some years ago when I was living in Latin America.
As a certified agricultural scientist with ARCPACS, I provided independent laborabory testing services to farmers. Among these services, I verified the absense of, for example, pesticides. Later, I learned from one of my clients that FDA inspectors rarely checked shipments that bore my ARCPACS certification. I surmise that they acknowledged the credibility of my U.S. certification and that I was unwilling to perjure myself.
Today, there are ARCPACS-certified agricultural scientists all over the world, some of whom I am sure would be interested in providing similar services to growers exporting to the U.S. Such a network of independent, certified labs would save the U.S. tax payer a lot of money.
Pingback: FDAImports.com Blog » Will FDA Meet its July 4 FSMA Deadline? Don’t Hold Your Breath
Pingback: Stalling of FSMA Leads to Lawsuit Filed by Public Health Groups | Stericycle Expert RETRIEVAL/QA