On Tuesday, January 25th, the FDA announced the final rule and posted an at a glance fact sheet for the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) final rule on Laboratory Accreditation for Analyses of Foods (LAAF).
The final rule establishes a laboratory accreditation program for the testing of food in certain circumstances and the compliance is 6 months from the date of the final rule. Participation by accreditation bodies and food testing laboratories is voluntary. Use of LAAF-accredited labs to conduct food testing will be required only in certain circumstances, including the following import situations: to support removal of a food from an import alert through successful consecutive testing requirements and to support admission of an imported food detained at the border because it is or appears to be in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. There are also other specific circumstances as you can see if you take a look at the rule. The rule was proposed in November 2019, and for more information, you can find the responses to comments to the proposed rule by looking at the final rule’s preamble.