Under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), farmers have to make a choice and Virginia has made up its mind on the matter. The act will require around 400 farms that produce more than $25,000 in annual income from fresh fruits and vegetables to be subject to random inspections. Rather than be checked by Federal officials Virginia has voted to run the inspections on a state level instead.
The Virginia Senate last week agreed the state should take on the task, approving Senate Bill 1195 by a 25-15 bipartisan vote. Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Sandra Adams said it is “a question of whether we do the inspections or the FDA.” After the state Senate approved the bill, it was assigned to the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources on Friday.
During the first two years, the Virginia Department of Agriculture plans no inspections but education and outreach to Virginia’s fresh produce growers. States taking over inspections from FDA are usually compensated by the federal agency. State agricultural commissioners and department directors also want funding in the next federal farm bill to help growers make investments needed to comply with FSMA.
Yet, Virginia farmers seem to be united on the notion that if there are going to be inspections, they’d sooner have them done by the state agriculture department than FDA.
source: foodsafetynews.com
