November 2, 2020

Governor Murphy’s Executive Order No. 192

Governor Murphy issued Executive Order (EO) No. 192 on October 28 which goes into effect November 5, 2020.  Note:  This does not only apply to agriculture, but all employers and employees.  This EO reenforces what has been in several EO over the year.  The main points follow:

  1. Requires that individuals at a worksite maintain at least six feet of distance from one another to the maximum extent possible. If the distance can not be maintained employees must wear masks provided by the employer and install physical barriers between each workstation wherever possible.
  2. Requires employees, customers, visitors, and other individuals entering the worksite to wear cloth or disposable face masks while on the premises. The employer may be required to provide a customer or visitor who declines to wear a mask due to a disability services or goods via a reasonable accommodation unless the accommodation would pose an undue hardship on the employer’s operation.  However, the employer or employee can not ask the individual for medical documentation.
  3. Employers must make available, at their expense, face masks for their employees
  4. Employers may deny entry to the worksite to any employee who declines to wear a face mask. If an employee states, they cannot wear a face mask for medical reasons the employer can require the employee to produce medical documentation.
  5. The employer must provide sanitization materials such as alcohol (at least 60%) hand sanitizers and wipes to employees, customers, and visitors at no cost to those individuals.
  6. Employers may require employees to wear gloves if so, the employer must provide the gloves.
  7. There must be a routine cleaning and disinfect program for high-touch areas in accordance with NJDOH and CDC guidelines.
  8. Prior to beginning to work there must be daily health checks of employees. This can be temperature screenings (temperature below 100.4 F), visual symptoms checking, self-assessment checklists and/or health questionnaires consistent with CDC guidance and confidentiality requirements.
  9. Immediately separate and send home employees who appear to have symptoms and promptly notify all employees of any known exposure, consistent with ADA confidentiality requirements.
  10. Clean and disinfect the worksite in accordance with CDC guidelines when an employee at the site has been diagnosed with COVID-19.
  11. The Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) has setup a complaint system process.
  12. The DOLWD is to provide compliance and safety training for employers and employees plus informational materials.
Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops
October 22, 2020

Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods Under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Rule

 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing a new rule on produce traceability under FSMA.  This new rule will impact most wholesale fruit and vegetable growers in New Jersey and some retail growers.  There is a 120-day (until January 21, 2021) comment period to respond to the proposed rule.  Take the time to review the rule and make comments!  Do not think it will not impact your operation it will.

 

What is in the Proposed Rule?

  • Those who manufacture, process, pack, or hold a food on the FOOD TRACEBILITY LIST would be required to establish and maintain records associated with specific Critical Tracking Events (CTEs), including growing, receiving, transforming, creating, and shipping.
  • For each CTE, entities would be required to establish and maintain records containing Key Data Elements (KDEs), such as the traceability lot code, the date the product was received, the date the product was shipped, and a product description.
  • In addition, those subject to the rule would also be required to create and maintain records related to their internal traceability program.
  • The proposed rule would require records to be maintained as either electronic, original paper records, or true copies.
  • In addition, the proposal states that in the event of a foodborne illness outbreak, a product recall, or other threat to public health, the FDA could require that firms submit, within 24 hours, an electronic sortable spreadsheet containing relevant traceability

Exemptions:

 

There are some exemptions (full or partial).  Full exemptions include small retail food establishments, small farms (less than $25,000 in sales), farms selling food directly to consumers, certain food produced and packaged on a farm, food that receives certain types of processing and transporters of food.  Partial exemptions would apply to certain commingled raw agricultural commodities (not including fruits and vegetables subject to the produce safety regulations), fishing vessels, retail food establishments that receive a listed food directly from a farm and farm to school and farm to institutions programs.

 

How to Submit a Comment:

 

Submit either electronic or written comments on the proposed rule by January 21, 2021.

The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2020 (pages 59984-60038)

 

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.

 

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-2014-N-0053 for “Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods.” Received comments, those filed in a timely manner (see ADDRESSES), 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.

 

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.

 

Listening Sessions

 

FDA will hold three virtual one-day public listening sessions to discuss the proposed rule and solicit public comments.  These meetings will occur on November 6 and 18 and December 2, 2020.  Search the FDA website for “FSMA Proposed Rule for Food Traceability” for the proposed rule and to sign up for one of the listening sessions.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Food Safety, Fruit, Vegetable Crops
June 15, 2020

USDA Good Agricultural Practices, Harmonized and Harmonized Plus Audits

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture is now scheduling audits.  If you have had an audit last year and need to schedule a renewal or if you need a new audit now is the time to schedule it.  There had been an extension for audits before May 31, but there will be no additional extensions.  Anyone wanting an audit should have gone through food safety training which is held each year December through March.  The auditor will want to see that you have had some type of training.  To schedule the audit email Chris Kleinguenther at christian.kleinguenther@ag.state.nj.us.

Filed Under: Uncategorized
June 10, 2020

On-Farm Readiness Reviews to Resume

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has lifted the restrictions on carrying out On-Farm Readiness Reviews (OFRR).  The New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) in cooperation with Rutgers Cooperative Extension will start offering OFRR’s in the next couple of weeks.

The objectives of the On-Farm Readiness Review program are to:

  • Offer a voluntary, non-regulatory, pre-inspectional “readiness” review primarily for covered farms and discuss whether the farm is covered by Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule or whether the farm may be exempt from parts of FSMA
  • Promote coordination between farmers, regulators & educators
  • Educate regulators about on-farm practices and conditions
  • Familiarize non-qualified farms with the regulations

 

This is a confidential review of individual farm operations.  Usually there are two individuals on the team, one each from NJDA and Extension.  This is not a records review, but an overall assessment of the farm operation and how the farming practices conform to the Produce Safety Rule.  The team walks around the operation with the grower and discusses the different aspects of the farm.  Once the review is over the group sits together and reviews the findings and makes suggestions for possible changes to meet the rule.  Any notes that are taken during the review are left with the grower.

Any fruit or vegetable operation with sales over $25,000 are eligible for the review.  It is encouraged that someone on the farm has gone through the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) training prior to the review.  The PSA training meets the requirement for training under the Product Safety Rule that someone on the operation must receive training recognized by FDA.

The OFRR is a good way to help a grower understand what is required under the Rule.  How do you schedule for a review?  Contact Chris Kleinguenther, NJDA, at  Christian.Kleinguenther@ag.nj.gov.  Chris will contact the grower and schedule a date and time for the review.

Filed Under: Food Safety, Fruit, Vegetable Crops
June 10, 2020

Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule Inspections to Resume

The Food and Drug Administration has announced that FSMA inspections can resume when the state is ready.  The New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) will be starting inspections of fruit and vegetable operations in the next couple of weeks.  NJDA will contact individual growers to schedule the inspection.  These will be educational inspections covering operations with sales of $250,000 and above.  If the farm thinks they are qualified exempt they will need to show some type of financial records for the last three years proving they meet the qualified exemption standard.

To be eligible for a qualified exemption, the farm must meet two requirements:

  1. The farm must have food sales averaging less than $500,000 per year adjusted for inflation during the previous three years.
  2. The farm’s direct sales to qualified end-users must exceed sales to all other buyers combined during the previous three years. A qualified end-user is either (a) the consumer of the food or (b) a restaurant or retail food establishment that is located in the same state or not more than 275 miles away.

If the operation is qualified exempt the requirement other than the financial records is to label either individual containers or have a roadside stand/farmers market sign prominently and conspicuously displayed that has the name and complete business address of the farm where the produce was grown.

For additional information contact Chris Kleinguenther, at Christian.Kleinguenther@ag.nj.gov

Filed Under: Food Safety, Fruit, Vegetable Crops
June 1, 2020

Hand Sanitizers for Use in the Field

Under the “Interim COVID-19 Guidance for Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers, Their Employers, and Housing Providers”, employers are required to provide hand sanitizers with at least 60-95% alcohol in various locations and employers are to schedule handwashing breaks every hour.  If soap and water are not available, an alcohol-based sanitizer that contains 60-95% alcohol may be used.  Hand sanitizers may be difficult to find, but a grower can make their own.  Visit the onfarmfoodsafety.rutgers.edu website for a factsheet entitled “Home-made Hand Sanitizer”.  This walks you through how to make a cheap effective sanitizer.

The next question is, what is the proper method to apply and use the sanitizer?  Research has shown that a two-step sanitizer method is the best method for alcohol-based sanitizers.

  1. Step 1: Apply three pumps of sanitizer from the dispenser.
  2. Step 2: Rub hands for 20 seconds making sure to cover the palms, backs of hands, and between fingers up to the wrists.
  3. Step 3: Wipe the hands on a disposable paper towel.
  4. Step 4: Apply one pump of the sanitizer from the dispenser.
  5. Step 5: Rub hands until dry.

Hand sanitizers do not take the place of handwashing before starting or returning to work; after using the toilet; before and after eating and smoking; before putting on gloves; after touching animals or animal waste or any other time hands may become contaminated under the Food Safety Modernization Act or for most audits.

Filed Under: Field, Forage & Livestock, Food Safety, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops