21 CFR Part 1 and 11 – Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food Final Rule was released April 6, 2016.
The following paraphrases information published by the FDA on April 5, 2016 at http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/UCM383763.htm
This rule is one of seven foundational rules proposed since January 2013 to create a modern, risk-based framework for food safety. The goal of this rule is to prevent practices during transportation that create food safety risks, such as failure to properly refrigerate food, inadequate cleaning of vehicles between loads, and failure to properly protect feed.
* Remember “food” includes “animal feed” and I have changed the word “food” to “feed”
Key Requirements
- Vehicles and Transportation Equipment: The design and maintenance of vehicles and transportation equipment to ensure that it does not cause the feed that it transports to become unsafe.
- Transportation Operations:The measures taken during transportation to ensure feed safety, such as adequate temperature controls (if required for feed safety), protection of feed from contamination by non-feed items in the same load or previous load, and protection of feed from cross contamination. This section defines roles in the transportation operations for Shipper, Loader, Carrier and Receiver all with different responsibilities.
- Training:Training of carrier personnel in sanitary transportation practices and documentation of the training.
- Records:Maintenance of records of written procedures, agreements and training (required of carriers).
This applies to inbound and outbound shipments. If you arrange the freight on inbound shipments or if your company delivers feed on company vehicles there are compliance requirements.
Compliance Dates: April, 2018
Exempt from the Rule (this is a narrow list of exemptions that could apply in the feed industry)
- Shippers, receivers, or carriers engaged in feed transportation operations that have less than $500,000 in average annual revenue
- Transportation activities performed by a farm
- Transportation of human food byproducts transported for use as animal feed without further processing
- Transportation of feed that is completely enclosed by a container except a feed that requires temperature control for safety
- Transportation of live food animals, except molluscan shellfish
Bottom Line: If you transport Bulk Feed, you need to address this rule in your SOP’s.