Canadian fruit and vegetable farmers will have to
comply with new food safety rules if they want to export to the United States.
They will not only have to practice good food
safety measures, but also keep records to document their compliance.
The tougher import rules are part of a package of
food safety measures the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has unveiled two
years after politicians passed a law to counter food poisoning.
It might be another two years before the new
rules actually take effect because the government will be busy drafting
detailed rules and offering stakeholders opportunities to comment before they
decide what will actually be put into effect.
“We know one-size-fits-all rules won’t work,”
said Michael R. Taylor, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary
medicine. “We’ve worked to develop proposed regulations that can be both
effective and practical across today’s diverse food system.”
Some examples of what’s proposed are making sure
workers' hands are washed, irrigation water is clean, and that animals stay out
of fields. Food manufacturers will have to submit food safety plans to the
government to show they are keeping their operations clean.
The FDA estimates the new rules could prevent
almost 2 million illnesses a year.
About one person in six experiences food
poisoning every year, 130,000 end up in hospital and about 3,000 die.
Taylor said it could take the agency another year
to craft the rules after a four-month comment period, and farms would have at
least two years to comply _ meaning the farm rules are at least three years
away from taking effect. Smaller farms would have even longer to comply.
The produce rule would mark the first time the
FDA has had real authority to regulate food on farms. In an effort to stave off
protests from farmers, the farm rules are tailored to apply only to certain
fruits and vegetables that pose the greatest risk, such as berries, melons,
leafy greens and other foods that are usually eaten raw.
Vegetables grown for processing will not be
regulated, nor will farms with sales of less than $500,000 a year. However, if
an outbreak is traced to a farm, it will be liable under the rules.
Among the rules the FDA says will be coming soon
are new responsibilities for importers to verify that food products grown
or processed overseas are as safe as domestically-produced food and
accreditation standards to strengthen the quality of third-party food safety
audits overseas.
Improving oversight of imported food is an
important goal, the government said.
Approximately 15 percent of the food consumed in
the United States is imported, with much higher proportions in certain higher-risk
categories, such as produce.
The FDA will also propose a preventive controls
rule for animal food facilities, similar to the preventive controls rule
proposed today for human food. That could also impact Canadian meat and poultry
packers and farmers.
