The Food and Drug Administration has submitted the final preventive controls rules for human and animal food to the Federal Register for publication, as required by the court. However, industry stakeholders have not seen a final version and are still waiting to see what the final rule contains.

FDA was to finalize its rule no later than Aug. 30 for preventative controls for human and animal food. FDA said in a statement on its Website that it is “committed to sharing information about the final rules and how food facilities can comply” as soon as they’re able to do so.

Leah Wilkinson, American Feed Industry Association’s director of ingredients, pet food and state affairs, said, “We still have not seen the rules and must continue to wait an undetermined amount of time until the pre-publication is available for viewing.”

One of the major concerns with the animal feed rule was the strong similarities between the human food rule and animal food current good manufacturing practices (CGMP). The National Grain and Feed Assn. said the re-proposal seems to make significant revisions to the CGMPs that tailor requirements to animal feed and pet food processes.

The other major component of the animal feed control is the preventative control portion, which NGFA too said FDA’s changes reflect comments presented by the feed industry. Previously the rule was written which essentially called for an approach similar to what’s required under a HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points) plan. The revisions made in later 2014 changed the language and provided additional flexibility and clarifies the most significant hazards.

For more information on the most recent proposal, click here.