On July 26, 2013, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a press release announcing that, in order to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), two proposed rules were filed with the Federal Register.

In the release, FDA explains that "These proposals are part of the FSMA approach to modernizing the food safety system for the 21st century. FSMA focuses on preventing food safety problems, rather than relying primarily on responding to problems after the fact."

The first notice proposes to adopt regulations on foreign supplier verification programs (FSVPs), requiring importers to verify that any food brought into the country is produced in compliance with processes and procedures. The second notice is proposing to amend regulations in order to provide accreditation for third-party auditors or certification bodies to conduct food safety audits of foreign food entities.

The proposed rules are scheduled to be published on July 29, 2013. Comments must be submitted within 120 days of publication.

The FDA press release is available online here. The FDA proposed rules are available here and here.