On June 24th, 2024, Western Growers, along with the Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association, Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association and Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association hosted a webinar on FSMA’s Final Rule on Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water. The webinar featured the following expert guest speakers: Kruti Ravaliya from the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Don Stocked from the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA), and Cecilia Mendoza from Taylor Farming. Sonia Salas, AVP of Science for Western Growers, moderated an engaging Q&A session.
Kruti Ravaliya with the FDA presented an overview of the rule’s basic requirements and compliance dates to ensure the audience understood the timeline for implementation. She covered ag water assessment in detail and introduced the ag water assessment tool, a practical resource designed to help growers evaluate their water systems and identify potential risks.
Don Stockel with the PSA presented on the scientific aspects of the Ag water rule, focusing on identifying current gaps in research and the training needs related to the rule. He highlighted specific areas where more training was needed to ensure proper implementation and compliance.
Cecilia Mendoza discussed how the industry was adapting to and implementing changes in response to the Ag water rule. Sharing examples and insights from Taylor Farms’ efforts to comply with the new requirements. Cecilia detailed specific strategies and practices they had adopted, such as updating water testing protocols, enhancing record-keeping systems and training staff on the new regulations
Here are some resources shared during the presentation:
Webinar Recording:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBnO1ssDUEc&feature=youtu.be
Webinar Slide Deck:
Webinar Q&A Report:
https://wga.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/science/Question%20Report%20Ag%20Water%20Webinar%206.24.pdf
FDA – Small Entity Compliance Guide for Produce Safety Regulation (Pages 18-24)
https://www.fda.gov/media/107298/download#page=18
FDA – Water Assessment Fact Sheet
Here’s a fact sheet created by the FDA, summarizing the factors to evaluate for the agricultural water assessments, the assessment outcomes, corrective measures, mitigation measures and reassessment.
https://www.fda.gov/media/178221/download?attachment
FDA – Factors to Consider as part of the Agricultural Water Assessment
The FDA posted a document that includes additional information and examples on factors to consider for the agricultural water assessment.
https://www.fda.gov/media/178227/download?attachment
FDA – Process Decision Tree for Agricultural Water Assessment and Risk-Based Outcomes
The FDA posted a decision tree to make decisions based on the findings from the inspection and ag water assessment.
https://www.fda.gov/media/178219/download?attachment\
FDA – Information on farm size and inflation adjustments cutoffs
https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-modernization-act-fsma/fsma-inflation-adjusted-cut-offs
FDA – Adjacent and Nearby Land Use and its Impact on Produce Safety Webpage
FDA – Water Assessment Builder
Tool designed to help farms understand the requirements in the Agricultural Water Final Rule.
https://agwaterassessment.fda.gov/
Western Growers – Ag Water Assessment Form
Sanitary Survey for Water Sources
Western Growers – Compliance Dates and Documentation Requirements
Western Growers developed a one-pager with compliance dates and documentation requirements for the Final Rule on Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water.
Western Growers – Flowchart for preharvest agricultural water assessment risk-based outcomes
https://www.wga.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Preharvest-Water-Assessment-Flowchart-Final.pdf