U. S. To Expand FDA Role In Seafood Imports, Traceability

摘要

The United States is expected to expand the role of the Food and Drug Administration in regulating food imports in 2010. Facilities will likely have to register with FDA, allow FDA inspections and meet FDA safety standards for food production at farmsand processing plants. FDA could mandate recalls and administratively detain food when it believes the product is in violation. While the United States Congress seems to agree that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should be given sweeping new regulatory powers over food imports, two major questions remain - who should pay for regulatory reform, which would cost nearly U.S. $4 billion over the next five years, and whether the present system for tracing food, which requires processors, importers and distributors to maintain records identifying their immediate customers and suppliers, should be replaced with an all-new electronic system that tracks products as they move through the supply chain.