New Leadership
We are thrilled to announce that Samantha Moran-Defty has been appointed as Senior Environmental Scientist-Supervisor in the Commercial Feed and Livestock Drug Programs. Samantha started with the Commercial Feed Regulatory Program (CFRP) in 2013 as an intern and has worked as a field inspector in Northern California and in the Safe Animal Feed Education (SAFE) Program. As Senior Environmental Scientist-Supervisor for CFRP, Samantha brings a wealth of industry knowledge to this position. She has been instrumental in developing and maintaining the program’s Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards, which in 2024 were nationally recognized as fully implemented in California. Samantha has helped to develop outreach for the California animal feed industry to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) for animal feed, has worked as the lab liaison for the program and has been a lead for several years over all the program’s grants and contracts.
Regulations Modernization
CFRP is currently working to modernize the feed ingredient definitions and standards within California Code of Regulations (CCR) to align with the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). CFRP is also working to modernize standards for commercial feed labeling within the CCR to align with AAFCO. The notice of proposed rulemaking and proposed text of both packets are expected to be released for public comment in 2025.
Administrative Penalties
CFRP will begin implementing changes in enforcement of commercial feed law and regulations following 2024 amendments to the CCR clarifying responsibilities of compliance and subsequent consequences related to tonnage reporting and payments, licensure, subsampling, and violations, including the severity of violations and associated administrative penalties.
Licensing and Tonnage Auditing
After commencing detailed audits of quarterly tonnage reported to CFRP by licensees in 2024 and finding incidents of unpaid tonnage and unlicensed firms, CFRP will implement routine tonnage and license audits in 2025. CFRP has hired a new Environmental Scientist to assist in tonnage auditing. Selections for auditing will be random, and no licensees will be exempt from an audit regardless of the number of tons reported. Audits will be inclusive of manufacturers, brokers, and distributors of all tonnage types.
Inspection Focus
CFRP will continue to focus inspection efforts on “California Feed Safety Inspections” at commercial feed licensed locations every 2-5 years, depending on priority determined by licensee operations. These comprehensive inspections cover Preventive Controls (PC) for Animal Food, Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP), and other applicable federal requirements incorporated into the CCR such as medicated feed CGMPs, the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) rule, and the veterinary feed directive (VFD) rule, as well as compliance with all California commercial feed laws and regulations.