On On Tuesday, Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a draft of their Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. This bill will serve as the legislative driver for the House on food safety for this year. United expects that the committee to hold hearings on this legislation as early as next week, and move to pass a bill out of committee during June.

It remains unclear if the full House will take up the bill prior to the August congressional break due to a crowded legislative calendar. An early review of the draft shows many challenges for the food industry in general, with significant user fees for food facilities and importers, inflexible and difficult traceability provisions, a new country of origin labeling requirement for food ingredients, and the ability for FDA to quarantine geographic regions based on outbreak information.

The produce-specific provisions in the bill are generally similar to a bill presented earlier this year by Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA) and Adam Putnam (R-FL), as well as food safety legislation from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).

"We're pleased that Chairman Waxman understands the need for commodity-specific flexibility in how FDA approaches produce," said Robert Guenther, United Fresh Senior Vice President of Public Policy. "However, there's a long way to go before food safety legislation finally passes the Congress and we’ll be working to drive sound scientific policy at each step along the way."

Click here for more information on United’s Food Safety Policy Priorities, or contact Robert at 202-303-3400.