USDA reminds regulated entities of tools to support compliance with the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has made available a new recorded webinar that will help inform regulated entities and food and ingredient suppliers about the recordkeeping requirements of the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (the BE Standard).

The webinar is part of AMS’s continued outreach to provide information about compliance with the BE Standard and is posted on the AMS YouTube channel.

Recordkeeping is an important part of the BE Standard. Enforcement of the BE Standard will be driven by a complaint process and USDA may request records to determine compliance after a complaint has been made against a regulated entity. This recorded webinar will provide regulated entities with information regarding the kinds of records that may be needed and answers other frequently asked questions.

Passed by Congress in 2016, the BE Standard provides uniform national specifications for the labeling of bioengineered foods. The BE Standard defines a bioengineered food as a food that contains genetic material that has been modified through in vitro rDNA techniques and for which the modification could not otherwise be obtained through conventional breeding or found in nature.  AMS published a final rule to implement the Standard in December 2018, which includes the mandatory compliance date of January 1, 2022.  

Additional questions about applicability, recordkeeping or disclosures can be directed to befooddisclosure@usda.gov.