WASHINGTON, DC – Stringent new import regulations in the United States could significantly affect the Bahamas’ multi-million dollar marine export sector, US Ambassador CA Smith said.
The ambassador attended a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of International Programmes special briefing on the Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA), signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010.
The purpose of the briefing was to share information about the provisions and implementation of the new law, which has – according to one official – 200 pages of provisions and 50 distinct “deliverables.” The law is expected to be a challenge to implement, and portions of it have potentially major implications for the importation of food into the United States.
After the briefing, Ambassador Smith noted that the new regulations were certain to have an impact on the Bahamas marine export sector.
In 2008, the Bahamas exported about 2,400 tonnes of fish (just over half the number of fish produced that year) at a value of over $80 million. There were 11 fish processors and 18 fish exporters at the end of 2008. The new regulations will no doubt have a pronounced affect on this important industry.
FDA official Michael Taylor noted that the FSMA is the first significant update of food safety legislation in 70 years. He summarised the aim of the new law as an attempt to minimise risks in the US food supply, and framed the provisions of the law as an attempt to enforce standards for the prevention of food-borne illnesses.
Deputy Commissioner for Foods Steven Solomon focused on how the law goes about risk reduction.
He pointed out that the new law requires the FDA to inspect 600 foreign facilities in 2011, and double that number next year.
The FSMA also gives the FDA new authority: food from a facility that declined FDA inspection can now be refused admission into the US.
Other new powers include the authority to mandate recall of contaminated foods if no voluntary recall is issued (complainants have two days within which to request a hearing on a recall) and increased registration requirements, particularly re-registration, which will only be completed upon compliance with FDA inspection requirements.
Dr Daniel McChesney, director of the Office of Surveillance and Compliance in the Centre for Veterinary Medicine, talked about the new focus on preventive controls, which include a ramped up set of standards for documentation of hazards and hazard mitigation. He said the FDA will institute a foreign supplier verification programme to ensure parity of protection: inspection and certification will be part of this programme.
By KHYLE QUINCY PARKER
Press Attaché, Embassy of The Bahamas
