The Grocery Manufacturers Association recently unveiled
its plan for improving control over food safety and food
ingredients imported in the U.S.
The plan, “Commitment to Consumers: The Four Pillars
of Food Safety,” is designed to protect consumers
by strengthening, modernizing and improving food safety
regulations on imports.
“Ensuring the United States has the safest food
supply in the world is priority number one for the food
and beverage industry,” said Cal Dooley, president
and CEO of the association. “Because we cannot
simply inspect our way to a safer food supply, industry
can apply its vast knowledge and practical experience
along the entire supply chain to prevent problems before
they arise. And, under our proposal, a fortified FDA
will be right there with us, side by side, to make sure
we do it right.”
Public-private partnership
Prevention and a stronger public-private food safety
partnership are the foundation of GMA’s Four
Pillars proposal. If adopted, all importers of record
would be required to adopt a foreign supplier quality
assurance program and verify that imported ingredients
and products meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration
food safety and quality requirements. The program would
be based on FDA guidance and industry best practices,
and would be monitored and enforced by the FDA.
FDA controls
The second pillar of the proposal would allow FDA to
focus greater resources on products and countries deemed
of higher risk through a program that would allow food
companies/importers to qualify their products as lower
risk by sharing test results, data and supply chain
information with the FDA in a confidential manner.
Qualifying products and ingredients would receive expedited
treatment at the borders, allowing the FDA to train
its resources on products that carry greater risk of
contamination.
Multinational safety standards
The third leg of the proposal focuses on building capacity
within foreign governments to facilitate food safety
standards that are more closely aligned with those
of the FDA.
Expanded FDA resources
Finally, recognizing that FDA must be armed with the
appropriate resources to administer this program and
adequately fulfill its food safety mission, the fourth
pillar seeks to expand the capacity of FDA, by providing
the agency with the resources it needs to get the job
done.
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