President to sign food safety bill

President Obama will sign the Food Safety and Modernization Act on Jan. 4.

Even so, much work remains to be done to implement the food safety law, said Ferd Hoefner, policy director for the Washington, D.C.-based National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

"This is less than have the battle," he said. "Rulemaking will be huge."

Questions about how Congress will fund the FDA for increased levels of inspections called for under the law remain to be answered, he said.

"When people in position of authority say they are going to scale back (federal spending) by 20%, that would suggest that there may be less money rather than more," he said.

Hoefner said tight funding will mean that the FDA must put an even greater focus on food safety issues that present the most risk.

Officials at the Washington, D.C.-based United Fresh Produce Association and Newark, Del.-based Produce Marketing Association were not immediately available for comment Jan. 3.

United Fresh senior vice president of public policy Robert Guenther released a statement earlier expressing a mixed reaction to Congressional approval of the legislation. United Fresh is not comfortable, he said, with an amendment that excludes some smaller operations from requirements of the law.

"United Fresh is confident that the Food Safety Modernization Act will do much good; it is, after all, the first overhaul of the food safety system in seven decades," Guenther said in the statement.

"However, the House and the Senate have both missed an opportunity to engage with one another to remedy the loopholes created by the Tester/Hagan Amendment."

In a Jan. 3 teleconference about the legislation, FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the Congressional Budget Office has estimated the cost of implementing the legislation is $1.4 billion in new funds over five years. Given remarks by Republicans indicating they won't be willing to fully fund the law, Hamburg was asked how the FDA would fulfill its responsibilities under the law.
Hamburg said the FDA will work with Congress and other stakeholders to identify funding needs for the agency.

"I'm very optimistic that we will be able to move forward to implement the bill," she said.

Hamburg said that funding will influence the number of staff FDA can hire to conduct inspections and other oversight.

A member of the media asked Hamburg whether the Tester amendment would spoil the legislation's attempt to improve traceability. Hamburg answered the question cautiously.

"There is no one-size-fits-all approach in terms of implementation," she said. "We need to be flexible, but we also do need to be able to put forward a certain set of standards and expectations."
Hamburg said the FDA is still engaged in creating a regulation on produce safety.

"Shifting from a reactive to a preventive mode is something we are very committed to," she said.

She said that the FDA is "fairly far along" in developing science-based minimum standards for production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables.

Hamburg said the produce regulation will address a range of concerns, including worker health and hygiene, packaging, temperature controls, water issues, soil issues and other issues. She said the FDA is trying to put forward a set of standards for produce safety that will make a difference and reflect best practice.

She said the deadline for the produce regulation is about a year.