As previously reported, both states’ departments of agriculture and FDA have begun visits to produce farms to conduct inspections for compliance with the Produce Safety Rule. The FSMA final Produce Safety Rule was published on November 27, 2015 (80 FR 74353) and establishes science-based minimum standards for the safe growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of produce. Our detailed summary of the rule is available here.

On September 9, 2019, FDA announced the award of a cooperative agreement with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) to provide information and resources to help state and territorial regulatory agencies plan and help carry out implementation of the Produce Safety Rule.

In addition to the funding that will allow NASDA to assist state and territorial produce safety regulatory programs in developing produce safety programs, the five-year cooperative agreement also provides for an annual National Consortium meeting of state and territorial regulatory agencies involved with implementation of the Produce Safety Rule.