Posted February 27, 2014
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently agreed to new deadlines for final rules for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), according to an article by Food Navigator-USA available here. National Law Review also reported on the story here.
The agreement is part of a settlement between FDA and the Center for Food Safety in Center for Food Safety, et al., v. Hamburg, filed against the FDA in August 2012. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California set deadlines and ruled in August of last year that the FDA may not extend those deadlines on the final rules. The FDA will drop its appeal in that case as part of the agreement. The consent decree is available here.
The new deadlines for issuing final rules are staggered for different rules: August 30, 2015 for preventative controls for human and animal food; October 31, 2015 for imported food and foreign suppliers; October 31, 2015 for produce safety; March 31, 2016 for food transportation; and May 31, 2016 for intentional adulteration of food.
The FSMA, Pub. L. No. 111-353, was passed by the 111thCongress in December of 2010 in response to several multistate foodborne illness outbreaks related to FDA-regulated foods including: bagged fresh spinach contaminated with E.coli0157:H7, Salmonella in Serrano peppers, melamine in pet food, and peanut butter and other peanut products contaminated with Salmonella Typhimurium.
This comprehensive food safety legislation focuses on foods regulated by the FDA and amends FDA existing structure and authorities, via the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. §§ 301 et seq.) and is the largest expansion in food safety since the 1930s. The FSMA will increase the frequency of inspections at food facilities, enhance record-keeping requirements, mandate product recalls if a firm fails to voluntarily recall an item, require comprehensive prevention-based controls throughout the food supply, improve foodborne illness tracking systems, and increase scrutiny of food imports.
For detailed information on the FSMA, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website hereand here.
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