Companies - Not Government - Should Be Responsible for Quality of Imported Food, FDA Says

As part of the final phase in carrying out the Food Safety and Modernization Act passed by Congress in 2010, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed two new draft rules on Friday requiring food importers to ensure the application of American safety standards on their foreign growers and processors.

Under the proposed regulations, US importers would have a clearly defined responsibility to verify these standards, including designing a plan for identifying hazards associated with each food deemed "reasonably likely to occur."

Furthermore, FDA officials report that the rules would strengthen "the quality, objectivity, and transparency of foreign food safety audits on which many food companies and importers currently rely to help manage the safety of their global food supply chains."

With nearly 15 percent of food consumed in the United States imported from abroad -- including 50 percent of fresh fruits and 20 percent of fresh vegetables -- those behind the proposed rules argue they are reflective of a globalizing food supply chain and would act as a significant step in disease prevention, versus "relying primarily on responding to problems after the fact."

"We must work toward global solutions to food safety so that whether you serve your family food grown locally or imported you can be confident that it is safe," FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg said in a press release.

Hamburg further stressed that, once in place, the overall success of such regulations will "depend in large part on partnerships across nations, industries, and business sectors."

According to Michael R. Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, the announcement represents a major shift in regards to those responsible for the quality of imported food.

"Rather than relying primarily on FDA investigators at the ports to detect and respond to food safety problems," he said. "importers would, for the first time, be held accountable for verifying, in a manner transparent to the FDA, that the food they important is safe."