Deadlines Set For New Food Safety Rules
February 25, 2014 
A settlement agreement with FDA sets firm deadlines for the agency to fully enact the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). A Federal Court will maintain supervision to ensure FDA’s compliance with the agreement.
“This is a major victory for the health and safety of the American people. The first major update to our food safety laws since 1938 must now be implemented in a close-ended, timely fashion,” said George Kimbrell, Center for Food Safety (CFS) senior attorney, who led the case. “That means safer food for American families.”
Congress passed the Food Safety and Modernization Act in 2011 to combat the epidemic of foodborne illnesses affecting one in six Americans annually. Congress ordered FDA to create new safety standards within 18 months. After the agency failed to meet the deadlines, CFS sued. FDA argued that it could take as long as it saw fit to issue the regulations. In 2013, the federal court repeatedly rejected that position and ruled in CFS’s favor, holding that FDA had violated the law. FDA appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
As part of the settlement agreement, FDA has agreed to express deadlines. The agency will follow the following court-overseen schedule to implement the final rules: preventative controls for human and animal food (8/30/15), imported food and foreign suppliers (10/31/15), produce safety (10/31/15), food transportation (3/31/16), and intentional adulteration of food (5/31/16). The deadlines for the sanitary transportation and intentional food adulteration rules will also be pushed back to 2016.
“Our food will soon be safer from E. Coli and other harms,” continued Kimbrell. “This is the best possible result, because it provides for robust public participation in the process, yet ensures certainty for its timely conclusion. CFS remains committed to protecting the rights of small farms and organic farms during the process.”
United Fresh Produce Association applauded the agreement reached to create a new timeline for the FSMA rules. FDA and the two advocacy groups, CFS and the Center for Environmental Health, reached a settlement in a case appealing the strict, court-imposed deadlines for FDA’s publication of final versions of the rules.
“We are encouraged that FDA has been allowed to push back the June 2015 deadline for these rules,” said United’s David Gombas, senior vice president of food safety and technology. “Each rule represents major changes to the industry and FDA in how the safety of human and animal food is controlled and regulated, both domestically and imported. It’s critical that FDA have the time to ensure that the final rules are right.”
Source: Center for Food Safety and United Fresh news releases
Subscribe Today For
