The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is proposing to extend the compliance date for the Food Traceability Rule by 30 months.
The FDA remains committed to successful implementation of the full requirements of the final rule, which establishes additional traceability recordkeeping requirements, beyond what is already required in existing regulations, for persons who manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods found on the Food Traceability List. The requirements in the rule will allow for faster identification and removal of potentially contaminated food from the market, resulting in fewer foodborne illnesses and deaths. The final rule requires a higher degree of coordination between members of the food industry than has been required in the past, including the sharing of accurate data with supply chain partners. Therefore, to achieve the full public health benefits of the final rule, all covered entities must comply.
The FDA is aware that even among those few entities who are well positioned to meet the final rule’s requirements by January 2026, there are challenges to meeting this timeline, in part because of their reliance on receiving accurate data from their supply chain partners, who might not be similarly situated. Therefore, the FDA’s proposed extension allows industry additional time, across all regulated sectors, to fully implement the final rule’s requirements.