FDA eyes 2009 for pet-food registry

Washington — The Reportable Food Registry, which the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was to implement by Sept. 27 as a means of providing earlier warning of possibly tainted human or animal food products, will be delayed under the agency's discretionary power until the spring of 2009, the FDA announced.

Enacted last September during investigation of the nation's massive pet-food recall, the FDA Amendments Act of 2007 requires the agency to set up a Web-based portal that makers of human and animal foods and ingredients would have to use within 24 hours to report cases of adulterated products that have left their control and could pose "serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals."

When the system is launched, anyone registered with FDA under the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 will be required to report cases of adulterated foods that left their control. They will not have to report if they detect such foods before transfer, or if they either correct the problem or destroy the adulterated products.

The FDA says it wants to integrate the Web-based registry with a new computer interface being developed, but that won't be operational until spring of 2009, at which time the rules on reporting will be enforced. It says it "strongly encourages" reporting during the interim through FDA district offices and other existing means.

The FDA was required to give food and ingredient makers some guidance on these issues by June 27. In doing so, it poses four questions in the Federal Register regarding the reporting of adulteration incidents, and seeks comments from affected industries by Aug. 11 on any potential compliance problems.