AFIA Presents Safe Feed/Safe Food Certification Program Enhancements to FDA


Richard Sellers

AFIA President Joel Newman and Vice Presidents Richard Sellers and Keith Epperson met with officials of FDA to present the latest Safe Feed/Safe Food Certification Program enhancements May 1 at the FDA offices in Rockville, MD. The seminar was presented in conjunction with the CVM Staff College and involved a half hour question and answer period.

Newman presented the opening by detailing the past cooperation efforts between AFIA and FDA, including seminars on the dairy, swine and liquid feed industries, production of a BSE trucker training video, and others. He expressed AFIA’s appreciation for FDA’s support of the SF/SF program and stated that he looked forward to ways of mutually encouraging other facilities to join the program.

Epperson went through the entire SF/SF program and detailed AFIA’s expectations of facilities joining the program, and the Facility Certification Institute’s (FCI) growing involvement in the program, including the decision to pass or fail a facility.

Several questions from the regulatory officials present included how the auditors from FCI are to be audited. Epperson responded that a plan is in the works to include that in the program. One FDA official asked how facilities are decertified. Sellers explained there is a “due process” procedure outlined in the program and no firm has reached that level. FDA/CVM Director Dr. Bernadette Dunham expressed her appreciation for AFIA’s efforts and look forward to engaging AFIA in discussions in the future.

Senior FDA officials have indicated they wish to cooperate in encouraging more firms to join the SF/SF program. In fact, this issue has been raised formally by FDA in a request for comments published in the Federal Register April 2, 2008. To review this request, click here: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-6705.htm.

For more information on the SF/SF program, click here.