Customs Corner
USTR announces a nine-month extension to the Sec 301 China exclusions
On 16 December 2022, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today announced a nine-month‑ extension of 352 product exclusions in the China Section 301 Investigation that had been scheduled to expire at the end of 2022. Per the USTR, the extension will help align further consideration of these exclusions with their ongoing comprehensive four-year review.
Interested persons may submit comments on the tariff headings containing these exclusions through the USTR portal in the four-year review, which closes on 17 January 2023. Additional information is set out in the following Federal Register Notice to be published on Monday, 19 December 2022.
FDA to Hold Webinar on the Food Traceability Final Rule
On 12 December 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a systematic review of the scientific literature on food safety culture (FSC) as a foundation for the FDA’s work on food safety culture with industry, consumers, and within the agency. Seventy-nine articles met the eligibility criteria for the review and are included in this analysis.
The FDA believes that to make dramatic improvements in reducing the burden of foodborne disease; they must do more to influence the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of people and the actions of organizations. A strong food safety culture is a prerequisite to effective food safety management.
Promoting FSC across the food system is a key pillar of the New Era of Smarter Food Safety blueprint, which was released in 2020. The blueprint outlines a 10–year plan to create a safer food system. The FDA conducted the literature review to understand better the latest science of FSC, including how it is defined, developed, and maintained by various organizations and assessed or measured.
While food safety culture is defined in various ways in the literature, the review identified the most frequently cited definition of FSC as the aggregation of the prevailing, relatively constant, learned, shared attitudes, values, and beliefs contributing to the hygiene behaviors used within a particular food handling environment (Griffith, Livesey, and Clayton 2010).
The literature review also identified numerous key determinants that contribute to an FSC and challenges and barriers to establishing and maintaining a strong and effective FSC. The FDA will use this research to inform its continued efforts to support food safety culture. Stakeholders and regulated industries are encouraged to foster a robust food safety culture across the food system.
For Additional Information
- Literature Review for Food Safety Culture
- New Era of Smarter Food Safety
- New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint
- Collaborating on Culture in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety – 10/26/2022
Should you have additional questions on any of the above-covered topics or any other trade-related questions, please feel free to contact the Customs Brokerage Product Team at custominfo.ff.us@geodis.com, or the Trade Services team at tradeservices.ff.us@geodis.com.
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