FDA to Hold Town Halls on Food Traceability Rule Implementation
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Partnership for Food Traceability (PFT) have announced two virtual town hall meetings focused on the implementation of the Food Traceability Rule, fulfilling Section 204(d) of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA 204).
The current compliance date for the Food Traceability Rule is July 20, 2028. It was delayed by 30 months from its original compliance date (January 2026) to “afford covered entities the additional time necessary to ensure complete coordination across the supply chain in order to fully implement the final rule’s requirements.”
The upcoming town hall meetings will provide a forum for FDA to gather stakeholder feedback on lot-level traceability efforts and challenges facing industry. FDA is interested in hearing about the challenges created by the current requirements and potential solutions for satisfying the rule’s lot-level tracking requirements. The goal of the meetings will be to identify and discuss specific solutions and how the solutions can benefit both industry and FDA.
The town halls will be held from 12:00–2:00 P.M. ET on:
- June 15, 2026: Challenges and Solutions for Lot-Level Traceability
- November 6, 2026: Solutions and Progress in Lot-Level Traceability
Registration is now open for the virtual meetings. When registering, attendees will be able to indicate their intent to make a public comment during the town hall(s).
FDA and PFT held their first FSMA 204 listening session in March 2026, which was open to PFT members only.
Update, May 27, 2026: FDA has published a discussion paper for the June 15 meeting.
Update, July 7, 2026: FDA published a recording of the June 15 meeting on the meeting page.
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