How Will FSMA Impact Carriers and Food Transportation?

While the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) continues to be a work in progress, one thing is for certain – it will generate greater accountability. That accountability will extend through the supply chain to include carriers transporting food products for humans and animals.

The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) goal is to develop standards to ensure the safety and integrity of food products. Building off the Sanitary Food Transportation Act, FSMA will test carriers’ documentation skills. In addition, the new rules will bring equal accountability to shippers, carriers, and receivers of food products.

Setting standard operating procedures for tasks such as cleaning trailers, locking and sealing loads, and properly refrigerating products isn't particularly challenging. However, developing a process of collecting, organizing, and storing this information for easy retrieval at a later date is where carriers may face an obstacle.

New standards will make technology almost a prerequisite for carriers.

For instance, document management systems likely will be the norm for linking inspection paperwork to bills of lading. Likewise, the industry could see GPS systems in trucks become standard for carriers, as regulations demand tighter tracking and traceability of food products while they are on the road.

As FSMA approaches, it’s important that food manufacturers review the standard operating procedures of their logistics providers. Questions to ask are:

• Do they have established criteria for inspecting trailers before loading?
• How are these records maintained?
• How quickly can they be produced for review?
• Do they have standards for inspecting products upon arrival?
• How do they ensure trailers maintain the proper temperature for products?
• Do they have real time/GPS tracking and tracing capabilities with their equipment?