Proposed Changes to Agricultural Water Requirements in the Produce Safety Rule
Proposed Changes to the Produce Safety Rule Agricultural Water Requirements
The FDA has proposed changes to pre-harvest water requirements in Subpart E–Agricultural Water of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule (PSR). As the rule is currently written, pre-harvest water used on covered produce must meet certain microbial standards and testing requirements. The proposed changes will do away with pre-harvest agricultural water testing, and be replaced with an annual risk assessment and the identification of foreseeable hazards.
If the proposed changes are finalized, these changes will affect all produce growers who are covered by the Produce Safety Rule.
July 18, 2022 FDA announced a proposed extension to the compliance dates for the pre-harvest agricultural water provisions as outlined in the recent 2021 agricultural water proposed rule. The proposed compliance dates for pre-harvest agricultural water are as follows:
- 2 years and 9 months after the effective date of a final rule for very small businesses;
- 1 year and 9 months after the effective date of a final rule for small businesses; and
- 9 months after the effective date of a final rule for all other businesses.
The compliance dates for harvest and post-harvest agricultural water requirements are as follows:
- January 26, 2025, for very small businesses;
- January 26, 2024, for small businesses; and
- January 26, 2023, for all other businesses.
The FDA accepted comments on the proposed changes through April 5, 2022, and on the proposed compliance dates through September 19, 2022. Submitted comments can be viewed online at docket FDA-2021-N-0471.
FDA Public Meetings
The FDA held two virtual public meetings in February 2022 to provide information on the proposed rule, and receive feedback from the public. If you were unable to attend, recordings of the FDA Public Meetings are available on YouTube.
Agricultural Water Assessment Builder
On March 21, 2022, the FDA released an online Agricultural Water Assessment Builder Tool designed to help farms conduct an agricultural water assessment that will meet the requirements of the proposed Agricultural Water Rule. For more information on this tool, visit the FDA Agricultural Water Assessment Builder Constituent Update announcement.
Additional Resources
If you have any questions about these changes or are having difficulty finding information, please contact the Office of the State Veterinarian Produce Safety Program at producesafety@alaska.gov or (907) 375-8200.
- The Proposed Rule on Agricultural Water
- Public Comments through Docket FDA-2021-N-0471
- FDA Public Meeting Recordings
- FDA Proposes Changes to Agricultural Water Requirements in the Produce Safety Rule: Constituent Update December 2, 2021
- Agricultural Water Assessment Fact Sheet
- Factors to Consider as Part of Agricultural Water Assessment Fact Sheet
- FDA Launches Agricultural Water Assessment Builder to Help Farms Understand Agricultural Water Proposed Rule Requirements: Constituent Update March 21, 2022
- FDA Proposes Compliance Date Extension for Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water Requirements: Constituent Update July 18, 2022
- Requirements for Harvest and Post-Harvest Agricultural Water in Subpart E for Covered Produce Other than Sprouts Fact Sheet
Funding Acknowledgement
The development of this webpage was supported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award (U2FFD007425) totaling $350,000 with 100 percent funded by FDA/HSS. The contents are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by FDA/HSS, or the U.S. Government.
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