First Major FSMA Compliance Dates: Landmarks and Learning Experiences

Posted on September 19, 2016 by FDA Voice

By: Stephen Ostroff, M.D., and Howard Sklamberg, J.D.

The phrase “where the rubber meets the road” is one that comes up in conversations about different subjects, from athletics to academics, when carefully laid plans are put to a crucial test. That’s where we are today with the arrival of the first major compliance datesunder the regulations developed by FDA to implement the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

Stephen Ostroff, M.D., is FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine

This is the day when larger businesses must comply with certain new standards under the preventive controls rules for human and animal food, two of the main rules developed to drive down the incidence of foodborne illnesses in our country. Larger human food facilities must meet preventive controls and modernized Current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements (CGMPs); larger animal food facilities must meet CGMPs. (The human and animal food rules have staggered compliance dates; animal food businesses have additional time to meet the preventive controls standards, as do smaller producers of human foods.)

The preventive controls rules were the first two of seven foundational FSMA rules to become final starting in September 2015. Human food facilities are required to have a food safety system in place that includes an analysis of hazards and risk-based preventive controls to minimize or prevent those hazards. The standards that animal food facilities must meet mark the first time that CGMPs have been broadly required for the safe production of animal food.

FSMA was signed into law in 2011 in the wake of mounting concerns by consumers and lawmakers about outbreaks of foodborne illness that kill thousands of people and animals every year. What followed was an unprecedented effort by FDA to involve the diverse landscape of food safety stakeholders, including growers, manufacturers, importers, distributors, consumer groups, and academic institutions, in the formulation of rules that are practical, flexible and effective for the food industry at home and abroad while protecting the public from contaminated food.

Howard Sklamberg, J.D., is FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Global Regulatory Operations and Policy

Since FSMA was enacted in 2011, we have literally traveled the world to get input on the rules we proposed in 2013 and early 2014 to implement the law. FDA teams have been involved in approximately 600 engagements, including public meetings, webinars, listening sessions, farm tours, visits to manufacturing plants and extensive presentations and meetings with various stakeholder groups.

As a result of these conversations, we made significant changes in September 2014 to four of the FSMA proposed rules, including the preventive controls rules, to make them more feasible and, ultimately, more effective.

So what happens now? This is a new chapter for all of us. FDA is focusing on providing the support that companies need to comply with the new requirements with education, training and technical assistance. We will be looking at how facilities are working to comply with the new food-safety standards and protect consumers from unsafe food. Of course, our mandate is to protect public health and, when necessary, the agency will act swiftly to do so.

The conversations we had with stakeholders in creating the rules will continue as we move further into the implementation phase with the preventive controls and other rules. We will be sharing our thinking on how requirements should be met in guidance documents and asking for the public to continue to provide feedback. If necessary, changes will be made; aspects of the rules will be fine-tuned. This first wave of compliance dates is important to the entire spectrum of FSMA implementation; the lessons learned will be invaluable in the years ahead when smaller food facilities are held to the new standards.

So today, the rubber meets the road. But these compliance dates aren’t the beginning of the end of our work to make FSMA a reality. They’re the end of the beginning. The partnership that FDA has forged with food producers of all kinds, and with its state, local, tribal and international regulatory partners, will ultimately protect consumers for generations to come.

Stephen Ostroff, M.D., is FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine; Howard Sklamberg, J.D., is FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Global Regulatory Operations and Policy