Intensive release of new food safety laws in the United States

Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially issued three new regulations through the implementation rules of the Food Safety Modernization Act, namely the Agricultural Product Safety Production Act, the Foreign Supplier Verification Procedure Act, and the Third Party Certification Act. These regulations all evolved from the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) established by the United States in 2011, which requires local farms to meet safety standards while also ensuring that imported agricultural products comply with domestic standards in the United States. It is reported that the US FDA has given a certain transition period, and most importers are required to comply with the new regulations by May 2017 (after 18 months). After the transition period, non compliant food production companies exporting to the US will no longer be able to continue.

According to these regulations, importers must be aware of whether the farms or food processors supplying the food have taken necessary measures to eliminate safety hazards. At the same time, importers must accept supervision from third-party independent certification bodies to confirm whether they have complied with their obligations under the new regulations. These new regulations have greatly improved food hygiene standards, and the related inspection and approval procedures have become more complex, which poses new requirements and challenges for food and agricultural product exporters from various countries, including China.

It is understood that in recent years, American food imports have increased year by year. 15% of the food consumed by Americans is imported from abroad, while 30% of the food is imported fresh fruits and vegetables. According to statistics, there are currently about 2500 food companies in China exporting to the United States, with an export volume of 169600 batches and a value of 7.495 billion US dollars in 2014. The implementation of relevant regulations in the United States will have an important and far-reaching impact on food exports to the United States.

To ensure the smooth development of food trade with the United States, the inspection and quarantine department reminds relevant enterprises to closely monitor and study new regulations, analyze the content of regulations, conduct self inspection and rectification in advance, and actively avoid and prevent risks; The second is to improve the quality and safety management system, strictly organize production management in accordance with the requirements of the new US regulations, continuously improve production facilities and hygiene conditions, and ensure that food hygiene control and management comply with the requirements of the new US regulations; Thirdly, certification companies can actively participate in third-party accreditation by strengthening communication and negotiation with the FDA, actively striving to become FDA accredited third-party auditors, guiding enterprises to prepare for on-site inspections by the US FDA in accordance with new regulatory requirements, and striving for the right to speak and take the initiative in exporting food to the United States.