Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine) joined a bipartisan coalition of legislators on Tuesday to call on the FDA to issue a second draft of Food Safety Modernization Act rules to allow more time for public comment.
Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) lead the bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, who have requested more time for public comment on the rules to mitigate unintended consequences.
“We believe the rules as currently proposed would result in a multitude of unintended consequences that would be severely detrimental to national, regional and local agriculture,” the legislators said. “By seeking additional input through second proposed rules for public comment before final rules, we believe that producers’ concerns can be addressed and unintended consequences can be greatly mitigated.”
The FDA recently issued two Food Safety Modernization Act rules that pertain to preventive controls for food and standards for the growing, harvesting, packing and storing of produce.
The rules, which total 1,200 pages, have drawn concern about facility compliance and environmental standards from food producers and processors.
“Despite your agency’s efforts to engage with stakeholders during the rulemaking process, we remain concerned about the ambiguity surrounding many aspects of these proposed rules,” the legislators said.