[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 4 (Friday, January 5, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 598-600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00050]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

21 CFR Parts 1, 11, 16, 106, 110, 111, 112, 114, 117, 120, 123, 
129, 179, 211, and 507

[Docket No. FDA-2017-N-6908]


Policy Regarding Certain Entities Subject to the Current Good 
Manufacturing Practice and Preventive Controls, Produce Safety, and/or 
Foreign Supplier Verification Programs; Guidance for Industry; 
Availability

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notification of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is announcing the 
availability of a guidance for industry entitled ``Policy Regarding 
Certain Entities Subject to the Current Good Manufacturing Practice and 
Preventive Controls, Produce Safety, and/or Foreign Supplier 
Verification Programs.'' This guidance states agency compliance policy 
regarding certain entities and/or activities related to the ``farm'' 
definition, written assurances, food contact substances, and human food 
by-products for use as animal food.

DATES: The announcement of the guidance is published in the Federal 
Register on January 5, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit either electronic or written comments on 
Agency guidances at any time as follows:

Electronic Submissions

    Submit electronic comments in the following way:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov 
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be 
made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment 
does not include any confidential information that you or a third party 
may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone 
else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, 
such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your 
name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in 
the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.

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     If you want to submit a comment with confidential 
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, 
submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner 
detailed (see ``Written/Paper Submissions'' and ``Instructions'').

Written/Paper Submissions

    Submit written/paper submissions as follows:
     Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for written/paper 
submissions): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
     For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets 
Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any 
attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, 
as confidential, if submitted as detailed in ``Instructions.''
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. 
FDA-2017-N-6908 for ``Enforcement Policy for Certain Entities Subject 
to Requirements in the CGMP and Preventive Controls Regulations, the 
Produce Safety Regulation, and the Foreign Supplier Verification 
Programs Regulation.'' Received comments will be placed in the docket 
and, except for those submitted as ``Confidential Submissions,'' 
publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets 
Management Staff between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
     Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with 
confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly 
available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You 
should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information 
you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states 
``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.'' The Agency will 
review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in 
its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the 
claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be 
available for public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. 
Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff. If you do not wish 
your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you 
can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of 
your comments and you must identify this information as 
``confidential.'' Any information marked as ``confidential'' will not 
be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other 
applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of 
comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or 
access the information at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in 
the heading of this document, into the ``Search'' box and follow the 
prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, 
Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
    You may submit comments on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 
10.115(g)(5)).
    Submit written requests for single copies of the guidance to Office 
of Food Safety, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and 
Drug Administration (HFS-300), 5001 Campus Dr., College Park, MD 20740. 
Send two self-addressed adhesive labels to assist that office in 
processing your request. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for 
electronic access to the guidance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    For questions relating to CGMP, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based 
Preventive Controls for Human Food: Jenny Scott, Center for Food Safety 
and Applied Nutrition (HFS-300), Food and Drug Administration, 5001 
Campus Dr., College Park, MD 20740, 240-402-2166.
    For questions relating to CGMP, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based 
Preventive Controls for Food for Animals: Jeanette Murphy, Center for 
Veterinary Medicine (HFV-200), Food and Drug Administration, 7519 
Standish Pl., Rockville, MD 20855, 240-402-6246.
    For questions relating to Foreign Supplier Verification Programs 
for Importers of Food for Humans and Animals: Rebecca Buckner, Office 
of Foods and Veterinary Medicine, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 
New Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 301-796-4576.
    For questions relating to Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, 
Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption: Samir Assar, 
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (HFS-317), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5001 Campus Dr., College Park, MD 20740, 240-402-1636.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    We are announcing the availability of a guidance for industry 
entitled ``Policy Regarding Certain Entities Subject to the Current 
Good Manufacturing Practice and Preventive Controls, Produce Safety, 
and/or Foreign Supplier Verification Programs: Guidance for Industry.'' 
We are issuing the guidance consistent with our good guidance practices 
regulation (21 CFR 10.115). In accordance with Sec.  10.115(g)(2), we 
are implementing the guidance immediately because we have determined 
that prior public participation is not feasible or appropriate. 
Although the guidance document is immediately in effect, FDA will 
accept comments at any time. The guidance is not subject to Executive 
Order 12866.
    This guidance document concerns four of the seven foundational 
rules that we have established in Title 21 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (21 CFR) as part of our implementation of the FDA Food 
Safety Modernization Act (FSMA; Pub. L. 111-353). The four final rules 
are entitled ``Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, 
and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food'' (published in the 
Federal Register of September 17, 2015, 80 FR 55908) (https://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/fsma/ucm334115.htm) (part 117); 
``Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based 
Preventive Controls for Food for Animals'' (published in the Federal 
Register of September 17, 2015, 80 FR 51670) (https://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/fsma/ucm366510.htm) (part 507); ``Foreign Supplier 
Verification Programs for Importers of Food for Humans and Animals'' 
(published in the Federal Register of November 27, 2015, 80 FR 74226) 
(https://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/fsma/ucm361902.htm) (FSVP 
regulation); and ``Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and 
Holding of Produce for Human Consumption'' (published in the Federal 
Register of November 27, 2015, 80 FR 74354) (https://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/fsma/ucm334114.htm) (produce safety regulation or 
part 112).
    In the guidance, we state compliance policy for certain entities 
and/or activities under these four rules:
     Specific facilities subject to part 117 and/or part 507:
    [cir] Certain facilities that would qualify as secondary activities 
farms except for the ownership of the facility (e.g., certain produce 
packinghouses and warehouses, egg packinghouses, grain elevators, 
cotton ginners);
    [cir] Facilities that would qualify as farms if they did not color 
RACs;

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    [cir] Facilities that would qualify as secondary activities farms 
except that they pack, package, label, and/or hold processed food that 
consists only of RACs that have been dried/dehydrated to create a 
distinct commodity (e.g., dried beans);
    [cir] Farm mixed-type facilities making silage food for animals;
     Written assurances under the ``customer provisions'' in 
part 117 and related rules;
     Importation of food contact substances under the FSVP 
regulation; and
     Certain human food by-products for use as animal food, 
with regard to certain requirements under part 507.

II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This guidance refers to previously approved collections of 
information found in FDA regulations. These collections of information 
are subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520). The 
collections of information in part 117 have been approved under OMB 
control number 0910-0751. The collections of information in part 507 
have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0789. The collections 
of information in 21 CFR part 1, subpart L have been approved under OMB 
control number 0910-0752. The collections of information in part 112 
have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0816.

II. Electronic Access

    Persons with access to the internet may obtain the guidance at 
either https://www.fda.gov/FoodGuidances or https://www.regulations.gov. Use the FDA website listed in the previous 
sentence to find the most current version of the guidance.

    Dated: January 2, 2018.
Leslie Kux,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-00050 Filed 1-4-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P


