The January 1, 2022, mandatory compliance date for the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) is fast approaching. Unless the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA-AMS) issues an enforcement discretion policy to give regulated entities more time to implement the requirements, foods labeled for U.S. retail sale will soon need to comply with the NBFDS regulations.
You’ve mastered the U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 (FD&C Act), conquered Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, and survived the Food Safety Modernization Act. Now, what is the NBFDS? The NBFDS and its regulations require the disclosure of bioengineered foods, or “BE foods” for short. This mandatory standard for the disclosure of BE foods was Congress’s answer to a jumble of state labeling laws for genetically modified organisms. It preempts state laws imposing GMO labeling requirements, such as Vermont’s genetic engineering labeling law, to create a uniform national standard. The mandatory BE food disclosure requirement applies to human food subject to the labeling requirements under the FD&C Act and some meat- and egg-containing products under the jurisdiction of the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Food manufacturers and importers (including those that manufacture or import dietary supplements), as well as retailers that package and label food for retail sale or sell bulk food items, are all required to comply with the NBFDS.