FDA extends FSMA deadlines one week

CONCORD, N.H. — The Food and Drug Administration has extended the deadline to submit comments on the produce safety and preventive controls portions of the Food Safety Modernization Act by an additional week after people said they had technical problems submitting their views online.

New Hampshire Rep. Annie Kuster led a New England delegation in asking for the extension. The original deadline was Friday; the new deadline is Friday, Nov. 22.

Earlier this year, farmers attended FDA sessions on the rules, which would require them to take new precautions against contamination, including ensuring workers' hands are washed, irrigation water is clean and that animals stay out of fields. New England farmers say many aspects of the rules were derived from large-scale farming practices that don't apply to the region's smaller farms.

People had problems submitting comments on the website, Regulations.gov.

“We are very interested in your comments on the proposed rule on produce safety and preventive controls for human food and have made every effort to encourage input since they were first published in January 2013. Our efforts include extending the comment period twice, holding three public meetings, and visiting farms across the country.

“That is why we are concerned about the intermittent technical difficulties that have occurred in November with the website http://www.regulations.gov, which have prevented some people from submitting comments. We know that these difficulties are inconvenient and very frustrating,” FDA said in a press release.

FDA has also extended the comment period for a related document, the Environmental Impact Statement for FSMA’s produce rule. Comments on this document may now be submitted to FDA until March 15, 2014.