Not So Fast, FSMA!

By Sam Lewis

Produce association on board for altering FSMA rules

Late-developing plans to curb the FDA’s implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) have just received the support of a powerful lobbying partner. Digital newsletter for the agricultural industry, The Hagstrom Report, reported on Wednesday, Oct 2 that the United Fresh Produce Association (UFPA) will support efforts to reformat the rules before their finalization.

The idea stems from September’s annual meeting of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), which represents top agricultural officials in the states and four U.S. territories. The president of the produce association, Tom Stenzel, says the group wants to revise the proposal prior to the rules being finalized. Stenzel was going to address this stance with the FDA’s deputy commissioner for food, Mike Taylor. This was prevented due to the government furlough. Taylor has not responded to this news, and will likely have to wait for President Obama and Congress to agree on terms of getting government workers back in the saddle before he can meet with Stenzel.

The concerns of NASDA and UPFA both lay within the drafts of Produce Safety and Preventative Controls rules, which are amendable until Nov 15. U.S. produce farmers are wondering how they will fare if food companies are permitted to import the same products from overseas.

Stenzel is claiming that the plans of the state agricultural directors and members of the produce industry are not meant to be a delaying tactic. Instead, he says they are a means of getting through the complexity of the issues the FDA is facing. The revisions to the packaged rules, “would give everyone a chance to see what they have changed,” says Stenzel. The UFPA wasted no time backing Stenzel by saying that FSMA is, “the most profound regulatory overhaul of food safety rules in some 70 years, it’s critical that the FDA get this right.”

A time extension to the rules could require Congress to amend the already scheduled time table of the FSMA. The FDA has already felt the heat from a federal judge regarding FSMA deadlines. The judge implemented a new deadline of June 30, 2015 — three years later than the lawmakers’ original vision.