This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to strengthen FDA food safety oversight in several ways. It expands the FDA's accredited third-party certification program by broadening which entities can seek certification and clarifying that the agency can use these certifications not just for import decisions but also to prioritize inspections and assess risk more broadly, affecting foreign and domestic food facilities. The bill also allows the FDA to share detailed food safety information, such as illness surveillance data, lab test results, inspection findings, and recall lists, directly with state, local, tribal, and territorial health authorities, and even permits limited disclosure of otherwise protected commercial information during active food safety incidents like outbreaks or recalls. Additionally, it gives the FDA new authority to order the destruction, rather than allow export, of imported food or products that have been refused entry and pose a significant public health risk, with owners bearing destruction costs within 90 days; personal prescription drug imports are exempted from this destruction authority. The FDA must establish a system for recognizing accreditation bodies within two years and issue proposed and final regulations for the destruction process within roughly two and a half years of enactment, giting importers and regulators new timelines to adjust to these changes.
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