Farm Bureau Policies 2022 of acceptedmanagement practices that California agriculture cur- rently employs such as Integrated Pest Management. Standards shouldbe flexible enough to fit California’s diverse climates, crop- ping patterns, land use standards, and regulatory requirements. Standards and regulations should not limit agricultural practices without strong scientific and economic justification.
No. 134 Food Safety
for long-termhealthproblems claimed to occur fromthe products’ consumptionoruse. Those making public health decisions that result in product recalls, product seizures, or destruction of perishable goods must be held accountable when such decisions prove erroneous or are unwarranted. Such entities must be required to compensate or indemnify individuals and companies for the full financial losses (including themarket valueofmonetary losses, damages, legal fees, and out-of-pocket expenditures) that occur. Federal law should include an indemnification program that is instituted to fully compensate farmers when the government issues anerroneous or unwarranted response action to analleged foodsafetydeficiency (suchasbymeans of awarningor recall) that causes market losses. Funding for compensation or indemnifica- tionof publichealthdecisionsmadeby the government shouldbe drawn from the responsible state or federal agency, or both. Funding to assist in the implementation of food safety regula- tions should come from those mandating the regulations. States and local governments should not have to share in the financial burden of enforcing federal food safety regulations. All food safety auditors must comply with the same rules. Training for all auditors shouldbe consistent anduniformfor both private and public auditors. Certification program requirements should be reviewed by in- dustry and science groups. We support: (1) The use of modern technology in the processing and the handling of food to assure food safety and to promote consumer confidence in the food supply; (2)Protectionof our foodsupplyby requiring that imported food products be subjected to the same safety standards and testing as food products produced in the U.S.; (3) Additional research on food safety technology; (4) Voluntary quality assuranceprograms at theproducer level; (5)Designationof USDAas the leadagency in thedevelopment andadministrationof foodsafetyguidelines and toserveas the sole federal agency responsible for food inspection and safety. Until then,USDAandFDAshouldworkmorecollaborativelywithFSMA guidelines to benefit producers; (6) All government agencies following site-specific food safety and security protocols upon authorized entry and inspections of farmoperations; (7) The burden of proof to be on the complainant to prove neg- ligence onanoperation in compliancewithapplicable food safety regulations; and (8) Inspectors for food safety and security programs being re- quired to present valid identification and upon departure leave notification of whowas present. We oppose: (1) Actions by agencies to raise the priority of and resources devoted to food safety that causeundue burden todomestic farm- ers and ranchers; (2) Food safety regulation and legislation that assesses fees or fines to domestic farmers unless these fees are in the form of in- dustry assessments under amarketing agreement or order; and (3) The establishment ofmandates compelling domestic farms to hire a third party to comply with federal or state food safety laws. (19/Rev. 2020) No. 135 Food Quality The American food supply is the safest, most abundant, and most affordable in the world. Agricultural chemicals and other technological advances play amajor role inmaintaining both the quality and quantity of our food supply. We support: (1) The considerationof both the risks and the benefits of pesti- cides in the evaluation of chemical products; (2) The establishment and promotion of sound scientific re- search criteria which ensure the safety of food additives; (3) Legislativeandregulatorydecisions concerning food irradia- tion (cold pasteurization) based on valid research; (4) Utilization of USDA approved technologies, such as cold pasteurization and high-pressure processing to eliminate E. coli and other pathogens fromour food supply; (5)More research shouldbe conductedby agricultural colleges into inspectionmethods toeliminate the riskof pathogens in food; (6) Fundingappropriate inspectionservices at a level permitting effective inspection of imported and domestic food products in such a way that is least burdensome to the producer; (7) Legislation to require the FDA and the Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) to prepare, in advance of final rule-mak- ing, agricultural cost/benefit statements on proposed regulations having a significant impact on agricultural producers; (8) Cooperative efforts with food processors, chemical com- panies, government agencies, scientists and others who are
The American food supply is among the safest in theworld. We will monitor initiatives to improve and streamline food safety to ensure that policies and procedures are in place that build trust and reliability inU.S. agriculture. Ensuring a safe, secure food supply is a critical concern when establishing domestic and international policy. We should con- tinue to communicate accurate, timely informationon food safety issues to themainstreammedia and the general public. Our goal is to improve awareness andunderstandingof agriculture’s commit- ment to providing a safe, high-quality food supply at a reasonable price to the public. Foodsafetypractices shouldhelppreventmicrobial contamina- tion of fresh produce. The practicesmust: (1) Be based on science and risk; (2) Provide flexibility to accommodate the great diversity of the fresh produce industry including those in geographically chal- lenged areas; (3) Be practical, reasonable, and economically feasible to implement; (4) Take the formof voluntary guidelines rather than federal or statemandates; (5) Be consistent with existing state and federal regulations, encourage harmonizationof food safety standards, andminimize conflicts, overlap, and paperwork; (6) Ensure auditing programs and standards such as Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), and Good Handling Practices (GHP) are crop and opera- tion specific; (7) Be implemented in amanner that will not impair our ability to export produce; (8) Provide adequate resources to carry out a standardizededu- cation program for the industry and consumers; (9)Be tailored to thesize, type, andcapacityof theoperation; and (10) Include aprovision that only coveredagricultural products shouldcount toward its gross sales threshold,whenanoperation is subject to the Food SafetyModernization Act (FSMA). Any requirements that we seek in our other policies which per- tain to foods created through synthetic food production should not be narrowed in scope, lessened, or negated due to any part of this food safety policy. Any agency with food safety authority should coordinate with theU.S.Department ofAgriculture (USDA) inthedevelopment and administration of food safety policies or the enforcement thereof. No food safety agency should have on-farm, on-premises, or on- vehicle food safety authorities for farms, food facilities, or persons transporting food unless a food safety-related cause is indicated by science. No food safety agency should release business names to the public during or after an investigation, until a thorough investiga- tionof theproducer, harvester, shipper, ormarketer has beencon- ducted, and the entity to be named publicly has been informed such a publication is to be made. Entities who cannot sell goods into the public marketplace should never be named publicly unless it can be proven that they adulterated the food or product through negligence. In the interest of improving cooperation during investigations and in an effort to obtain better information for consumers and industry alike, FDA should significantly revise their practices during investigations to improve the speed and accuracy with which they conduct their efforts. Additionally, FDA’s authority to name individuals, businesses or brands should be greatly reduced, and Congress should enact legislation that grants legal recourse to anyone adversely affected by FDA’s action, instead of on a case-by-case basis requiring congressional actions for every situation. Recordkeeping requirementsmust be accompanied by assur- ance that information accessed by Federal or state agencies in regard to food safety protocols will remain confidential. Records provided to agencies shouldbe protected fromthird-party access. Following the initial publicationof aproposed ruleon foodsafe- ty regulations, a food safety agency should allow a second public comment to allow stakeholder review of any revisions before the final rule is promulgated. We encourage research and development of expedient and efficient processes to trace food contamination outbreaks. Food origin traceability should extend no further than the production level for which traceability is economically feasible and non-intrusive. Producers of legal agricultural productswho followgenerally ac- ceptablestandards(suchasvoluntaryguidelines)andhavenot inten- tionallyadulteratedafoodshouldneitherbeheldresponsibleor liable for healthproblems claimed to occur fromthe product’s consump- tion or use nor be subject to adulterationprosecution. Producers of legal agricultural products should not be held responsible or liable
Sustainable agriculture standards should be outcome-based, developedby farmersandranchersand focusonadaptivemanage- ment rather than a rigid set of practices. We support: (1) Scientific research and education that encourages all par- ticipants in the agricultural industry to produce, process and dis- tribute food and fiber in amanner that is economically viable and enhances thequalityof life for present and future generations; and (2) Protection of confidential information. Proprietary data collected about grower practices and the sustainability value must be kept confidential with no threat of exposure to competi- tors. (Rev. 2016) No. 130 Organic Farming We support efforts toenhancemarketing, research, andproduc- tion opportunities for producers of organically grown commodi- ties. Standards for theproduction, processing, handling and label- ingof these commodities shouldbe adoptedand strictly enforced. CDFAshouldbe the leadagency inany regulatoryandenforcement activities relating to organic agriculture. Unreasonable barriers to producer entry to this market should be prohibited. USDA National Organic Program standards and enforcement should be implemented consistently so that all pro- ducers are treated fairly and equitably. Those who benefit from the sale of organically produced com- modities should pay for enforcement activities. (90/Rev. 2022) No. 131 Organic Foods Standards Clear and consistent national standards for the productionand labeling of “organically grown” foods must be maintained for the benefit of producers and consumers. There should be effective enforcement of these standards. (1990) No. 132 Disaster Assistance We believe that disaster loans should be made to those who have suffered losses due to anunusual natural disaster or govern- ment restrictions. We believe that disaster loans should be governed by the fol- lowing principles: (1) Any interest subsidy should be recaptured if the farm is sold voluntarily during the termof the loan; (2) All lending institutions which provide agricultural fund- ing shouldmake every effort to reamortize or extend agricultural loans on an individual basis in order to assist producers affected by natural disasters to stay in business and operate through the current season; (3) There shouldbe a state appeals committeemadeupof pres- ent or past county committeemenand this committee shouldhave the final say on appeals; and (4) The declaration of a disaster should be made only by the secretaryof agriculture, thegovernor, or thepresident on theadvice of appropriate local officials. Disaster Payments Disaster programs should take into account present losses, the ability to produce the same or similar crops and ongoing losses when determining levels of disaster payments. Crop lossesdue togovernmental restrictionsorpest infestations, should be included for disaster payments. Disaster Programs We support disaster assistance for catastrophic natural disasters that : (1) Provides assistance for quantity and quality losses; (2) Covers all affected segments of agriculture; (3) Does not exclude declared types of natural disasters; and (4) Provides timely delivery of assistance. Disaster Declarations We support disasterdeclarations tocombat conditions that pose severe wildfire threat. We support treating catastrophic wildfire as a natural di- saster. (Rev. 2017) No. 133 Warning Labels We oppose warning labels on agricultural commodities and products until such time that studies can conclusively prove that thepublic is better informedbywarning labels thanbypublic edu- cation. (1988)
January 26, 2022 Ag Alert 17
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