Government Affairs

Update on U.S. Food Safety Legislation

The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, approved by the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 2749) in July, includes the following provisions of interest to the almond industry:

• Allowing FDA to specify commodity-specific guidance on preventive controls that each industry should implement to reduce the risk of microbial contamination (focused on produce, leafy greens);
  
  
• Guidance on steps the food industry should take to establish product tracing systems to improve national capacity for detecting the origins of food-borne illness;
  
  
• Implementation of a new incident-command system to address outbreaks of food-borne illness;
  
  
• Linking all relevant agencies (including state and local governments) more effectively;
  
  
• Facilitating communication and decision-making in an emergency;
  
  
• Asking state and local agencies to update their emergency operations procedures leading to quicker response, better communication, and better coordination by all federal, state, and local agencies; and
  
  
• Establishing a facility registration fee of $500 per facility per year.

The legislation now moves to the Senate for a vote. Lawmakers are already feeling pressure from food industry representatives to make changes to the House version of the legislation. The Senate is in recess from August 8 through September 7, 2009. Lawmakers have been encouraged by the current administration to prioritize passing legislation for more high profile bills such as and Health Care Reform. Due to the publicity of those bills, it is not known at this time when the Senate will be reviewing food safety legislation. ABC will continue to monitor the progress of this bill and update industry with any developments.