12.23.10
Congress has passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which is designed to increase enforcement and protect consumers.
According to the Natural Products Association (NPA), Washington, D.C., this bill will increase consumer protection by giving FDA the authority to order product recalls, requiring food manufacturers to keep more detailed food safety plans, allowing the FDA greater access to food company records, and other provisions.
“After a three-week procedural roller coaster ride, the Food Safety bill has cleared Congress and is now before the president. Enactment of the bill is an important win for NPA and the industry,” said John Gay, NPA executive director and CEO. “Provisions that would hurt natural products retailers and suppliers were modified or removed from the bill, and measures supported by the industry were included. This legislation demonstrates the impact of the strong grassroots voice of NPA members and others in the industry.”
“We owe a special thanks to Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Mike Enzi (R-WY) for their leadership and support of the industry,” Mr. Gay added. “We also appreciate the long, hard work of a number of senators, including Richard Durbin (D-IL), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Judd Gregg (R-NH).”
NPA members and the government affairs team in Washington, D.C., lobbied for modifications and improvements to the legislation. For example, there are provisions protecting supplement makers from duplicative safety regulations, and language clarifying that nothing in the bill promotes adoption of Codex by the U.S.
The legislation also includes language negotiated between industry champion Senator Hatch and Senator John McCain (R-AZ), which prompted McCain to withdraw his support for S. 3002, the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010. S. 3002 would have radically altered the existing regulatory framework in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), and threatened an entire industry in an ineffective attempt to confront a relatively few bad actor
In response to the passage of the FSMA by Congress, the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the leading trade association representing the dietary supplement industry, issued the following statement from Steve Mister, president and CEO, CRN:
“CRN commends Congress for today passing the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). FSMA was a demonstration of a thoughtful and bi-partisan approach to crafting meaningful and necessary legislation. Congress has now ensured that FDA will have the additional tools needed to help protect the public health in the area of food safety. We congratulate members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee for their tireless work over the last four years to pass meaningful food safety legislation.”
