Other Ag News: Release: NSAC Welcomes FDA’s Risk Based Approach to the Final Rule on Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water

For Immediate Release

Contact: Laura Zaks

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

press@sustainableagriculture.net

Tel. 347.563.6408

Washington, DC, May 3, 2024 – Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released the Final Rule on Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water, which finalizes a series of updates to Subpart E of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule.  This is one of the remaining components of the 2015 Produce Safety Rule and has been much anticipated by agricultural and public health communities. For nearly ten years, FDA has wrestled with crafting an appropriately risk- and science-based standard. This final rule represents an impressive shift from the original one-size-fits-all approach to one that can be adapted to farms of varying types and sizes. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) has been actively engaged in this process, and welcomes this risk-based final rule, which reflects years of listening and learning on behalf of FDA and the broader stakeholder community.

The final rule demonstrates FDA’s marked improvement in understanding the links between various risk prevention strategies and public health, alongside the importance of ensuring that comprehensive rules have adaptable, farmer-driven assessments at their heart. These changes reflect FDA’s prioritization of engaging with the farmer stakeholder community to better understand the impacts their rules have had across different scales and models of farming. NSAC members have been deeply involved in many of these changes, leading the charge for farmers of diverse scale and production styles in their region. 

“We deeply appreciate the updated, risk-based approach to Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water Standards and the staggered compliance dates of the final rule by farm size. As implementation begins, NSAC is keen to continue to engage with FDA to support farmers’ ability to fully forecast and mitigate risks, especially from adjacent and nearby land uses. Similarly, we are eager to continue partnering with FDA in order to better resource farmers, especially those operating on smaller scales and with more diversified production styles,” said Connor Kippe, NSAC Food Systems Integrity Policy Specialist.

We look forward to working with FDA and other stakeholders to establish a work plan to collaboratively develop further guidance documents that address these concerns, including the translation of implementation resources into languages such as Spanish. Visit NSAC’s blog for additional details on this rule and further guidance issued. 

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About the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a grassroots alliance that advocates for federal policy reform supporting the long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities. Learn more and get involved at: https://sustainableagriculture.net

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