How FSMA Will Impact Shippers in 2015 and Beyond

Signed into law in 2011, the FSMA enables the FDA to better protect public health by strengthening the food safety system.

This effort falls under a long-term push for convergence of regulations and preventative controls concerning human food, produce, and animal food.

The FSMA, which goes into full effect this year, presents a host of challenges for shippers that deal with food and produce.

For starters, it has put additional pressures on companies that must now comply with an entirely new set of regulations that could impact shippers’ operations, profitability, productivity, and supply chains.

To help companies effectively navigate FSMA’s rules, third-party logistics providers are offering up services designed to ease their customers’ regulation-related burdens.

For example, WSI has created a food safety program that’s applied to food-grade facilities. Within that program, WSI addresses all of the important FDA-regulated areas at both a state and municipality level. The service provider also handles facility cleaning schedules, documentation of those schedules, the tracking of inbound and outbound loads, and the documenting of vehicle seal numbers.

In this white paper we take a closer look at the key changes associated with FSMA, how these changes are impacting shippers, and how third-party logistics providers (3PLs) can help companies efficiently and effectively comply with the new law.