FDA proposes new food safety standards for farms and facilities

San Jose, Costa Rica, April 16, 2013 (IICA). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), within the framework of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), released two proposed standards that would apply to both domestic and foreign farms and facilities. The rules concern produce safety and preventive controls for human food.

The scope of the two standards was discussed at a videoconference organized by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), in which Lisa López and Carmen Booker, representatives of the FDA Regional Office for Latin America, took part.

These rules, and another three that are in the pipeline, assign much of the responsibility for food safety to producers and processors. In some cases, they are flexible in nature, depending on the type of risk involved.

“This means that the farm or facility can establish alternative procedures for certain requirements, provided they guarantee the same level of protection. A country or state may also request modifications to the rule, if it considers that local growing conditions warrant such a step,” López explained.

The proposed produce safety rule is related to the growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of produce (fruits or vegetables) on farms in their raw or unprocessed state.

It excludes farms that work with products that are very rarely consumed in their natural state, such as cereals, or that are intended for commercial processing. It also excludes farms whose sales total less than USD25,000 per year.

The standard places special emphasis on the management of potential sources of microbial contamination identified. Such sources include domestic and wild animals, equipment, tools, and buildings, worker health and hygiene, and water used for agricultural purposes, among others.

The rule on preventive controls for human food would apply to processed products and facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold human food.

This standard regulates hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls, so that the nature and level of preventive controls depend on the risks that exist in the facility.

Both rules establish varying one-to-four year terms for implementation of the measures required, depending on the size of the farm.

Interested parties can make observations on the two proposed standards before they enter into force, at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home. The deadline for comments is May 16, 2013.

In addition to the two rules mentioned, the FDA is in the process of developing three more: a foreign supplier verification program, preventive controls for animal feed, and accredited third party certification.

For more information, contact: 
ana.cordero@iica.int
lao@fda.hhs.gov