AFBF has submitted comments to the Food and Drug Administration supporting a two- to four-year extension of compliance dates for the agricultural water requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act rule. The extension provides farmers an opportunity to continue their engagement with the FDA to consider the best approach for implementation.  

FSMA includes a produce safety rule, which contains agricultural water standards as a key requirement. The purpose of the agricultural water standards is to set the criteria for microbial water quality and test the water source for the presence of generic E.coli and other pathogens.  

FDA proposed the extension after receiving feedback that some of the requirements were extremely complex to understand and implement.