Produce Safety Rule Compliance Dates & Timeline

FSMA Produce Safety Rule Timeline

The FDA had been developing and drafting the Produce Safety Rule since FSMA was passed in 2011. There were two open comment periods during which the FDA solicited feedback from produce growers, industry members, academics, and the general public. A timeline of the process is outlined below including compliance dates.

Compliance Dates

Information about compliance dates for the FSMA Produce Safety Rule is available in many places, but we felt like it might be valuable to gather all the pieces of information together so you can see the specific regulatory compliance dates for the different parts of the Rule. 

  • Proving eligibility for the qualified exemption requires three years of sales records to support the exemption. If you plan to use the qualified exemption, you will need to have sales records beginning on your compliance date.

The provisions covering sprout production first go into effect at the beginning of 2017 for farms making over $500,000 or later depending on the farm gross receipts. 

The other provisions of the rule go into effect at the beginning of 2018 or after 2018, depending on the provision and the size of your farm’s business.

  1. According to the Final Rule issued on 3/18/19, Compliance dates for Subpart E, Agricultural Water, allow an additional four years.
  2. A farm eligible for a qualified exemption must notify consumers as to the complete business address of the farm where the food is grown, harvested, packed, and held.
  3. A farm is a small business if, on a rolling basis, the average annual monetary value of produce sold during the previous 3-year period is no more than $500,000.
  4. A farm is a very small business if, on a rolling basis, the average annual monetary value of produce sold during the previous 3-year period is no more than $250,000.

Download the Compliance Dates chart in a printable format.

Before the compliance date, every covered farm that does not qualify for an exemption must have a supervisor (such as a farm owner/operator) complete a standardized food safety training program. The Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training Course is one way to satisfy this requirement.