U.S. dairy groups want unique program for dairy import oversight
NMPF and USDEC urge FDA not to model dairy imported-related food safety oversight after that for shellfish imports.
On May 29, The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) asked for further engagement with FDA on ways to facilitate U.S. dairy exports, while expressing concerns that the manner in which the U.S. government is handling shellfish trade would pose a deep concern if that same process were applied to the trade of dairy foods.
At issue is FDA’s determination of whether a foreign country has food safety parameters equivalent to the United States, the organizations said. Equivalence is a process by which FDA can recognize other countries’ food safety measures as meeting an equivalent level of protection as provided by U.S. food safety measures such as those mandated by the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference or the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments.