Shifting Inspection Focus
Following 2023 amendments to the California Code of Regulations (CCR) to incorporate provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) from the Code of Federal Regulations, the Commercial Feed Regulatory Program (CFRP) will be shifting away from “Routine Inspections” and begin conducting “California Feed Safety Inspections” in 2024. The new inspection format will evaluate the firm’s development and implementation of a food safety plan to control reasonably foreseeable hazards associated with the feed products distributed from the facility.
Administrative Penalties
Currently proposed amendments to the CCR will clarify the responsibilities of compliance and subsequent consequences related to reporting tonnage type, taxes, payments, licensure, subsampling, and violations, including severity of types of violations and fees associated with those violations. The amendments are expected to be adopted and implemented later in 2024. The CFRP will provide outreach to industry regarding how these changes will impact enforcement of commercial feed laws and regulations.
Licensing and Tonnage Auditing
Effective January 1, 2024, a notice of warning will be immediately issued to all firms with delinquent licenses and tonnage reports. The CFRP will be performing detailed audits of quarterly tonnage reported to CFRP by licensees. 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.
Article 14 Modernization
The CFRP is currently working to modernize the feed ingredient definitions and standard within Article 14 of the CCR to align with the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). The notice of proposed rulemaking and proposed text are expected to be released for public comment in 2024.
Innovative Feed Enhancement and Economic Development (FEED) Act
The Innovative FEED Act was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives on December 7, 2023, and proposes establishing a regulatory pathway within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a new category of animal feed additives. The CFRP is closely watching the progression of this act and may consider modernization of commercial feed and livestock drug laws and regulations in response to policy changes from FDA. The CFRP and Livestock Drugs Program will not register or approve the use of products without FDA approval, as stated in the notice to industry released recently.
Outreach and Education
The Safe Animal Feed Education (SAFE) Program has many projects in the works for 2024, including guidance for setting feed label guarantees, medicated feed label training videos, mixer study resources, and adding Spanish versions of some guidance documents. SAFE is also working with the Livestock Drugs Program to develop guidance on the livestock drug registration process and labeling of livestock drug products.