US tightens food safety rules - but SA exporters in the clear

In its fight against
foodborne diseases,
the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA)
has established new foodsafety
rules and ensured that
foreign imports meet these
new domestic standards.
These are the ‘produce
safety’ rule, the
“foreign supplier verification
programmes’ rule and the
‘accredited third-party
certification’ rule – part of the
Food Safety Modernisation
Act (FSMA) of 2011. The
basic produce safety rule
establishes science-based
standards for growing,
harvesting, packing, and
holding produce.
And the US market
has a substantial import
element. The US department
of agriculture (USDA)
estimates that in 2013
imported food accounted for
about 19% of the US food
supply – including about 52%
of the fresh fruits and 22% of
the fresh vegetables.
Just what will this mean
for SA fresh fruit and
vegetable exporters, which
are major foreign suppliers
for the US, particularly in
fresh fruits?
Possibly lurking
over SA exporters is
the FDA’s ‘foreign
supplier verification
programmes’ rule
– which means
importers must
verify foreign
suppliers
producing food
in a way that
meets US safety
standards.
Said the FDA:
“(This) ensures
that importers
conduct verification activities
(such as audits of a supplier’s
facility, sampling and testing
of food, or a review of the
supplier’s relevant food safety
records) based on risks linked
to the imported food and the
performance of the foreign
supplier.”
The standards in this final
rule include requirements
for water quality, employee
health and hygiene, wild
and domesticated animals,
biological soil amendments
of animal origin (such as
compost and manure),
and equipment, tools and
buildings.
So just what impact will
this have on the SA fruit and
veg exporters?
“Very little, if at all,” said
Werner van Rooyen of the
Fresh Produce Exporters’
Forum, whose members
account for about 90% of
fresh fruit exported from SA.
“We have protocols for
each product exported there,
and US inspectors keep
updating the monitoring of
sanitary measures to prevent
such disease. Also, we have
bi-lateral agreements with
the US and so have to meet
the sanitary requirements
laid down in those.
“These new rules are never
going to trump the very strict
protocols with which we
already comply.”
Not included under the
rules are “agricultural
commodities that were not
raw or in their natural states,
and rarely consumed as raw”.
The list of exemptions is:
black beans, great Northern
beans, kidney beans, lima
beans, navy beans and pinto
beans; garden beets (roots
and tops) and sugar beets;
cashews; sour cherries;
chickpeas; cocoa beans;
coffee beans; collards; sweet
corn; cranberries; dates; dill
(seeds and weed); eggplants;
figs; horseradish; hazelnuts;
lentils; okra; peanuts;
pecans; peppermint;
potatoes; pumpkins; winter
squash; sweet potatoes; and
water chestnuts.