Three More FSMA Rules Finalized As The Year Comes To A Close

Although not quite meeting the deadline of October 31 established in a legal settlement last year, FDA has released a set of three more "foundational" Final Rules mandated by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA or the Act). The Final Rules on Foreign Supplier Verification Programs, produce safety, and accredited third-party certification were released by FDA in pre-publication format on November 13, and they will be published in the Federal Register on November 27, 2015.

That official publication date will be key for calculating individual compliance dates for businesses covered by the FSVP and produce safety rules, as those rules stagger compliance depending on business size and other factors, as do the final preventive controls for human and animal food. We blogged about those first two FSMA Final Rules back in mid-September, and the last two rules related to sanitary transportation and intentional contamination of food are expected to be finalized next year,