The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law in January 2011, and the FDA expects fiscal years 2015 and 2016 to be crucial years for doing the up-front work that is needed to implement FSMA, which will be of great concern to The Bahamas, as the U.S. is one of the major destinations for Bahamian food exports.
The FDA has received an additional $27.5 million in budget authority this fiscal year, and U.S. President Barack Obama has proposed additional resources, including an increase of $109.5 million of new budget authority in his FY 2016 budget request.
The FDA plans to spend $11.5 million on education and technical assistance for industry; such measures are needed, the agency said, to help farmers, processors and importers -- especially small businesses -- implement the new prevention-oriented standards.
"Approximately 300,000 entities could be subject to the final FSMA rules. The FDA believes that it should expend substantial financial resources to provide such assistance and will make training materials widely available to protect public health," according to the FDA.
The matter of technical assistance for Caribbean states was one of the primary agenda items during the Sixth Meeting of the CARICOM-United States (U.S.) Trade and Investment Council (TIC), held in Nassau on October 28, 2014.
In March 2014, in response to a request by the CARICOM Secretariat for an update on developments in relation to the offer of technical assistance first made in January 2014, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) indicated that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) were developing a food safety training program, which was expected to be operational before the end of 2014.
The Office of the USTR undertook to provide more information as soon as it became available. No information has been received from the Office of the USTR since, and an overview of the project was to be delivered during those closed door meetings in Nassau.
Guardian Business understands that CARICOM, for its part, sought to reaffirm the region's interest in the offer of technical assistance and reinforce its interest in receiving the offered technical assistance by stressing the importance of agricultural exports to the economies of CARICOM member states and, therefore, the need to ensure continued access to the U.S. market which is a critical destination for such exports.
The technical assistance would contribute significantly to ensuring that the requirements of the new FSMA are realized and exports to the U.S. continue to enjoy unimpeded access. There is no doubt that The Bahamas would wish to continue to enjoy "unimpeded access". In 2013, The Bahamas exported tens of millions of dollars in fresh and frozen fish to the U.S., as well as spiny lobster and hundreds of thousands of dollars in conch.
The FDA has budgeted $25.5 million for new import safety systems, noting that improving oversight of imported food is crucial to protect public health and ensure consumer confidence in food safety, regardless of whether food is produced domestically or imported.
"The food consumed by Americans today comes from over 200,000 different food facilities, more than half of which are located outside the United States. For example, about 50 percent of fresh fruits, 20 percent of fresh vegetables and 80 percent of seafood consumed by Americans is imported," the FDA said.
The Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) mandated by FSMA, will require importers to implement supplier verification plans to help ensure food produced overseas meets U.S. food safety standards.
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