WASHINGTON—Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) President and CEO Pam Bailey outlined the association’s food-safety reform agenda at the Grocery Manufacturers Association-Food Marketing Institute supply chain conference in Miami April 6.
“Because product safety is the foundation of consumer trust, our industry devotes enormous resources to ensure that our products are safe, and continually strives to improve the safety of our products,” Bailey said. “In addition to stepping up our own efforts, we are advocating legislative and regulatory reforms that will modernize our nation’s food safety net, prevent problems before they arise and bolster consumer confidence in the safety and security of the food supply.”
GMA’s food-safety reform proposal places new regulatory mandates on food companies and provides the FDA with resources it needs to protect American consumers including a requirement that all food manufacturers have a food-safety plan in place; a requirement that all food manufacturers have a foreign-supplier safety plan; an increase in FDA food-related spending; the establishment of new federal agricultural standards for fresh fruits and vegetables; the adoption of a risk-based approach for FDA inspections; and, the establishment of mandatory recall authority for FDA in certain circumstances.
“Our industry has a tremendous track record of success when it comes to product safety, but we can do even better. We have a rare opportunity to enact meaningful reforms, and we urge Congress and the Obama Administration to enact those reforms right away,” Bailey concluded.