The Food Traceability Final Rule under FSMA Section 204(d) compliance date was originally scheduled for January 2026, but it was extended to July 2028. Under the FDA’s 2026 federal funding legislation, no appropriated funds may be used to enforce the rule until July 2028, provided the FDA meets specific conditions. On February 19, 2026, FDA issued updated Questions & Answers guidance clarifying key aspects of the rule, with important implications for the fresh produce sector.

This updated Questions & Answers guidance aims to address stakeholder questions on implementing the Food Traceability Rule. The guidance clarifies important topics for the fresh produce sector, including applicability to farms and retail entities, activities such as initial packing and transformation, exemptions and traceability plan and recordkeeping expectations. The draft guidance is now open for public comment under Docket FDA-2025-D-2837, with comments accepted through May 21, 2026.

FDA also announced a series of quarterly stakeholder engagement sessions, organized with the Partnership for Food Traceability (PFT), to gather input on implementation challenges and explore practical flexibilities. The first session will take place on March 6, 2026, for PFT members, with a public session planned for a later quarter.

Western Growers, a member of the PFT, continues to share member feedback highlighting that many challenges stem from downstream implementation variability, including buyer-specific system requirements and inconsistent lot-level expectations. The Science team continues to gather feedback from members and invites members to engage. To assist members, Western Growers developed the Traceability Guidance Document, outlining practical compliance pathways and will continue to update members.

For questions, comments or concerns, please reach out to Sonia Salas at [email protected] directly. We are actively preparing formal comments and are currently gathering valuable feedback from Western Growers members to help shape our submission. Your input is important and will play a key role in ensuring our collective voice is represented.