FDA takes step to help ensure the safety of imported food

[The Straight Story]

FDA takes step to help ensure the safety of imported food
Agency releases new proposed rules under FSMA for verifying foreign suppliers and accrediting third-party auditors

In order to implement the bipartisan Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) signed by President Obama, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued two proposed rules aimed at helping to ensure that imported food meets the same safety standards as food produced in the United States.

These proposals are part of the FSMA approach to modernizing the food safety system for the 21st century. FSMA focuses on preventing food safety problems, rather than relying primarily on responding to problems after the fact. The FDA encourages Americans to review and comment on these important proposed rules.

Under the proposed rules, importers would be accountable for verifying that their foreign suppliers are implementing modern, prevention-oriented food safety practices, and achieving the same level of food safety as domestic growers and processors. The FDA is also proposing rules to strengthen the quality, objectivity, and transparency of foreign food safety audits on which many food companies and importers currently rely to help manage the safety of their global food supply chains.

...

FSMA also directs the FDA to establish a program for the Accreditation of Third-Party Auditors for imported food. Under this proposed rule, the FDA would recognize accreditation bodies based on certain criteria such as competency and impartiality. The accreditation bodies, which could be foreign government agencies or private companies, would in turn accredit third-party auditors to audit and issue certifications for foreign food facilities and food, under certain circumstances.

Importers will not generally be required to obtain certifications, but certifications may be used by the FDA to determine whether to admit certain imported food that poses a safety risk into the United States.

The two proposed rules, which are available for public comment for the next 120 days at
http://go.usa.gov/j5xG, will help the FDA create an integrated import oversight system that works efficiently to improve food safety and protect the public health.

These proposals work in concert with the proposed rules released in January 2013, for produce safety and preventive controls in facilities that produce human food. Those proposed rules are currently open for comment until September 16, 2013, but the FDA intends to grant a 60-day final extension of the comment period to allow commenters an opportunity to consider the interrelationships between the January proposals and the two proposals being announced today.

For more information:

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/UCM362610

Well if this is like other stuff after 120 days no one will say anything, then fox news will wait 60 more days and complain that the new rules were snuck in (whereas a real news org might, oh I dunno, keep an eye such things and alert the public ahead of time so they can give input....)

[valerief]

1. What about the shit produced in the US? Oh, I forgot. Self-regulation. Yup. nt

[The Straight Story]

2. More info from AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chances are that about 15 percent of the food you eat — more if your diet includes lots of fruits, vegetables and cheese — comes from abroad, and the government is taking steps now to make it safer.

New rules proposed Friday by the Food and Drug Administration would make U.S. food importers responsible for ensuring that their suppliers are handling and processing food safely.

Imported fruit and cheese has been responsible for many recent outbreaks, including 153 recent Hepatitis A illnesses linked to a frozen berry mix sold at Costco as well as four deaths last year that were linked to listeria in Italian cheese. Imported fruits or vegetables are also the top suspect in an ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a gastrointestinal infection that has so far sickened 321 people in 13 states.

Other illnesses in the last several years have been linked to imported papayas, mangoes and nuts and spices used as ingredients. An estimated 3,000 people die from food-related illnesses every year.

The proposed rules, required by a sweeping food safety law passed by Congress in 2010, are meant to establish better checks on what long has been a scattershot effort to guard against unsafe food imported from more than 150 countries. Only around 2 percent of that food is inspected by the government at ports and borders.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fda-proposes-rules-safer-imported-foods

[forestpath]

3. How does it ensure safety if the importers are the ones responsible?

Sounds like the foxes guarding the henhouse to me - like the US's own rules.