Last week, the White House released its “Current Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions” for spring 2015. FDA inspectAs with previous agendas for the Food and Drug Administration, finalizing the major rules of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) are a priority. The rules regarding preventive controls for human food and preventive controls for animal food will be finalized by Aug. 30, and the rules for produce safety, the foreign supplier verification program, and third-party accreditation will be finalized by Oct. 31. The other two major rules regarding sanitary transportation and intentional adulteration will be finalized by March 31, 2106, and May 31, 2016, respectively. The Veterinary Feed Directive, which will require that the use of medically important antimicrobial drugs in animal feed and water be under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian, was proposed in December 2013 and was slated to be finalized in April, but it is now expected this month. The agenda also included FDA’s proposal to collect animal antibiotic sales data by species. FDA’s plans to make permanent interim measures to minimize human exposure to materials that scientific studies have demonstrated are highly likely to contain the BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) agent in cattle infected with the disease have been pushed to September. Additional FDA regulation:

Stage of Rulemaking Title RIN Date of Action
Proposed Food Labeling; Gluten-Free Labeling of Fermented, Hydrolyzed, or Distilled Foods 0910-AH00 May 2015
Proposed User Fees for FDA’s Third-Party Accreditation Program for Food and Feed 0910-AH23 May 2015
Proposed Registration of Food Facilities: Amendments to Food Facility Registration Requirements 0910-AG69 June 2015
Proposed Updated Standards for Labeling of Pet Food 0910-AG09 Sept. 2015
Final Food Labeling; Revision of the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels 0910-AF22 March 2016
Final Food Labeling: Serving Sizes of Foods That Can Reasonably Be Consumed At One-Eating Occasion; Dual-Column Labeling; Updating, Modifying, and Establishing Certain RACCs 0910-AF23 March 2016

  The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) planned notice of proposed rulemaking for new requirements for contamination control in cattle slaughter operations has been pushed from July to December. The agency is proposing to amend its regulations to require that all establishments that slaughter cattle develop, implement and maintain written procedures to prevent contamination of carcasses and parts by enteric pathogens and fecal material throughout the entire slaughter and dressing operation. Finalizing amendments to recordkeeping regulations to specify that all establishments and retail stores that grind raw beef products for sale in commerce must keep records of the supplier of all source materials used and identify the names of those source materials has also been pushed to December. Earlier this month, FSIS finalized labeling requirements for mechanically tenderized beef, and the rule will go into effect on May 17, 2016. Additional FSIS regulation:

Stage of Rulemaking Title RIN Date of Action
Proposed Requirements for the Disposition of Non-Ambulatory Disabled Veal Calves 0583-AD54  July 2015
Final Mandatory Inspection of Fish of the Order Siluriformes and Products Derived From Such Fish 0583-AD36 July 2015
Proposed Affirmation of Interim Final Rule With Amendments: Control of Listeria Monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat Meat and Poultry Products 0583-AD53  Sept. 2015
Final Electronic Export Application and Certification as a Reimbursable Service and Flexibility in the Requirements for Official Export Inspection Marks, Devices, and Certificates 0583-AD41  Dec. 2015
Proposed Addition of Namibia to the List of Countries Eligible to Export Meat Products to the United States 0583-AD51   Dec. 2015
Proposed Product Labeling: Use of the Voluntary Claim “Natural” on the Labeling of Meat and Poultry Products 0583-AD30   Dec. 2015
Final Eligibility of Lithuania to Export Meat and Meat Products to the United States 0583-AD57 Dec. 2015
Proposed Revision of the Nutrition Facts Panels for Meat and Poultry Products and Updating Certain Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed 0583-AD56 Dec. 2015