On December 7, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a 4-hour webinar to give stakeholders an in-depth overview of the newly issued final rule on Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods (Food Traceability Final Rule).

The Food Traceability Final Rule fulfills Section 204(d) of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), and is designed to facilitate faster identification and rapid removal of potentially contaminated food from the market, resulting in fewer foodborne illnesses and associated deaths. The Final Rule requires that certain records be maintained for foods on the Food Traceability List (FTL), including Key Data Elements (KDEs) for Critical Tracking Events (CTEs). Records must also be made available to FDA upon request. The compliance date for the Final Rule is January 20, 2026.

The webinar covered a range of topics, including:

• An overview of the final rule
• An overview of the final regulatory impact analysis
• Exemptions
• The FTL
• Final requirements, including: traceability plans, assigning traceability lot codes, CTEs and KDEs, electronic sortable spreadsheets, records maintenance and availability, and the compliance date.

Additionally, the end of the webinar provided an opportunity for stakeholders to have their questions answered.

A recording of the webinar and the presentation slides will be made available on the meeting page.