FDA will hold a public hearing on February 14-15, 2017, in College Park, Maryland, regarding strategic partnerships to enhance the safety of food imported into the United States.
The federal agency recognizes the importance of strengthening the existing collaborations among food safety regulators (federal, state, local, territorial, tribal and foreign) to achieve public health goals. The public hearing will provide an opportunity for FDA to receive input from stakeholders as it develops, expands and refines partnership activities related to imported foods. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has provided FDA with new authorities to help ensure that imported foods meet the same safety standards as foods produced domestically. While the FSMA regulations are not the subject of this public hearing, the initiatives that will be discussed align with and support FSMA implementation.
The hearing will focus on obtaining information on the role of partnerships:
- To build food safety capacity in other countries.
- To help operationalize the concept of “same level of public health protection” in relation to FDA’s hazard analysis, preventive controls and produce safety requirements.”
- To enhance risk-based decision making through the consideration of private standards, the recognition of commodity-specific export programs, and the implementation of the existing systems recognition program.
The meeting will be held at FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Wiley Auditorium, 5001 Campus Drive, College Park, MD 20740. The meeting will also be webcast live. Registration ends February 8, 2017. During the registration process, participants will be able to specify whether they will attend in person or by live webcast. Participants may provide either written or oral comments on the issues identified in the Federal Register notice. Oral presentations must also be submitted in advance and should be limited to two minutes in an effort to accommodate the expected number of requests. More information about participation can be found at the link below.
Resources:
Federal Register Notice Announcing the Public Hearing
Additional Updates from the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
