Please review the attached document which may help you follow along with the discussion and help answer questions you may have about exclusions and/or exemptions to the proposed Produce Safety Rule.
The session will be recorded and available on the PSA website after the event.
The call-in information is below. No registration is necessary. All participants will be muted upon entry and able to ask questions via a moderated Q & A session. Please plan to be on the call 5 minutes prior to the start to ensure you are present for the introduction and instructions on how to ask questions.
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What You Need to Know: Proposed Rule on Standards for Produce Safety Under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
Proposed Rule at a Glance
What is FDA doing?
FDA is issuing a proposed rule to establish science--based standards for growing, harvesting, packing and holding produce on domestic and foreign farms. The proposed rule is required by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
Who would be covered?
- The proposed rule would apply to farms that grow, harvest, pack or hold most fruits and vegetables when those fruits and vegetables are in their raw or natural (unprocessed) state.
- The proposed rule would not apply to certain produce: produce that is rarely consumed raw (such as potatoes), produce that will receive processing including a kill-step (with certain documentation), and produce for personal or on-farm consumption.
- The proposed rule would not apply (or would only partially apply) to certain farms.
See the attached Decision Tree for more information.
What would the proposed standards cover?
They would focus on commonly identified routes of microbial contamination of produce, including:
(1) agricultural water (2) farm worker hygiene (3) manure and other additions to the soil (4) animals in growing areas, and (5) equipment, tools and buildings. There are also specific proposed standards for sprouts.
When would the new requirements be effective?
If you are covered by the rule (see attached flowchart) you would have the following amount of time after the effective date (the effective date is 60 days after the FINAL rule is published in the Federal Register) to comply.
- Very small businesses, defined as having an average annual value of food sold during the previous three years of no more than $250,000, would have four years after the effective date to comply; for some water requirements, they would have six years.
- Small businesses, defined as having an average annual value of food sold during the previous three years of no more than $500,000, would have three years after the effective date to comply; for some of the water requirements, they would have five years.
- Other businesses would have to comply two years after the effective date. They would have four years to comply with some of the water requirements.
What if I need more information? Go to http://www.fda.gov/Food/
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