The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) appeal to delay the upcoming food safety regulations.
As per the court ruling, the agency will have time till 20 December to publish draft proposed rules.
The FDA was sued by the Center for Food Safety for failing to meet deadlines for releasing Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules. At that time, the court set 30 November as the final deadline.
The Hill quoted lead attorney George Kimbrell as saying that Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) to end the preventable food-borne illness epidemic in the US.
"But without its implementing rules, the statute is an empty vessel. Congress knew this was literally an issue of life or death, which is why it included mandatory deadlines in the law for its regulations."
