HFP Constituent Update
Food Traceability: FDA Issues Draft Enforcement Discretion Policy for Certain Small Retailers and Restaurants and Announces Public Meeting
View on the FDA website
October 8, 2026
To fulfill a directive from Congress, the FDA is taking steps to identify and offer stakeholders additional flexibilities, as appropriate, for complying with the Food Traceability Rule.
In response to feedback from stakeholders, and after determining there would be minimal public health impact, the FDA is issuing draft guidance that will, if finalized, provide enforcement discretion from the requirements of the Food Traceability Rule for certain smaller retail food establishments (RFEs) and restaurants that were not previously captured as part of the full exemption for small RFEs and restaurants offered as part of the rule. We believe this additional flexibility will maintain the intended public health benefits of the rule as it would only impact a small percentage of total food sales while also providing relief to numerous smaller RFEs and restaurants.
Under the draft policy, the FDA does not intend to enforce any of the requirements of the Food Traceability Rule for RFEs and restaurants whose average monetary value of food sold or provided during the previous three-year period is greater than $250,000 but not more than $1million, adjusted for inflation using 2020 as the baseline year for calculating the adjustment.
FDA plans to offer additional flexibilities for complying with the Food Traceability Rule, beyond this draft enforcement policy for small RFEs and restaurants. Towards that end, the FDA will hold a public meeting on November 6, 2026, as part of a series of engagements being held in accordance with the Congressional directive under the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026 (P.L. 119-37).
The Federal Register notice announcing the public meeting includes a high-level summary of feedback received on the discussion paper released on May 27 and discussed at the June 15 public meeting. The goal of this upcoming public meeting is to hear additional stakeholder perspectives on lot-level food traceability efforts and implementation challenges. Specifically, the FDA is interested in feedback on the potential flexibilities outlined in the discussion paper and on the feedback received on the discussion paper in the docket.
The public meeting is free and open to the public, but registration is necessary to attend. More information about registration and how to request to speak during the public comment period are available on our meeting page. General registration will remain open until November 5, 2026, but individuals who want to speak during the public comment period must register by October 26, 2026.
|
