December 6, 2022

Update on Produce Safety Rule Inspections

Since routine inspections of farms subject to the Produce Safety Rule (PSR) began in 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Association of Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) have worked closely with state and industry partners to prepare regulators and farms for inspections through training, technical assistance, educational visits, and On-Farm Readiness Review (OFRR).

So far, routine inspections have been educational to assist farmers with becoming more familiar with the PSR requirements.

To date:

  • Only egregious observations have been captured on the Produce Farm Inspection Observation Form FDA 4056 or state equivalent form. 
  • Significant observations have been verbally communicated to the farm and documented in the produce inspection report.

Effective March 18, 2023:

All significant observations (not just egregious) will be documented on the FDA Form 4056 or state equivalent form during all inspections, including routine inspections.

To prepare for this transition, FDA and NASDA recommend that farmers do the following:

  • Familiarize themselves with what to expect from a regulatory inspection using this informational handout.
  • Take the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Grower Training.
  • Take advantage of On-Farm Readiness Reviews (OFRR) if they have not had their initial inspection yet. NASDA continues to train state and extension partners  to deliver this tool to farms. The NASDA contact to connect you to OFRRs is Carol Perrier at [email protected].

If you have any questions or issues associated with this change, contact Sonia Salas at [email protected]. To access the FDA’s update on this change, click here.