Publisher’s Platform: The Food Traceability Rule Has Been Law Since 2022 – Nobody Has To Follow It Until 2028. Here Is How That Happened, And What FDA Is Doing With The Time.

TL;DR

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The Food Traceability Rule took effect in January 2023, but a law enacted in November 2025 bars the FDA from using covered funds to administer or enforce it before July 20, 2028. The agency is holding a public meeting on lot-level traceability and must consult with affected businesses; the rule’s tracking requirements remain in place, though enforcement is barred during the period.

The FDA will hold a public meeting on Nov. 6 about lot-level food traceability, while a federal law bars the agency from using covered funds to administer or enforce the Food Traceability Rule before July 20, 2028. The rule took effect in January 2023, but the statutory funding restriction means businesses covered by it do not face FDA enforcement under the rule before that date.

The meeting is titled “Challenges and Solutions in Lot-Level Food Traceability.” People seeking to speak must register by Oct. 26; same-day registration is not allowed. Written comments are due Dec. 6 in Docket No. FDA-2014-N-0053. The meeting is one of the agency’s required discussions with farms, restaurants, retailers and warehouses about possible flexibilities for meeting the rule’s lot-tracking requirements.

The rule applies to specified foods on the Food Traceability List, including leafy greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, sprouts, fresh-cut produce, shell eggs, soft cheeses, finfish, crustaceans and ready-to-eat deli salads. Covered businesses must keep key data at designated points such as harvesting, cooling, packing, shipping and receiving, and link records with a traceability lot code assigned when the food is first packed.

When the FDA requests records during an outbreak investigation, covered companies are required by the rule to provide an electronic, sortable spreadsheet within 24 hours. The funding restriction does not, according to the source report, repeal or rewrite those requirements. It prevents the agency from administering or enforcing the rule with funds covered by the law before the specified date. The Congressional Research Service estimated the rule could affect more than 323,000 domestic businesses operating about 484,000 establishments.

Traceability During Outbreak Investigations

The rule is intended to help investigators trace food through a supply chain more quickly when an outbreak occurs. Earlier records often identified only a supplier and a recipient, a system commonly described as one step forward and one step back. The source report says FDA pilot projects conducted in 2011 and 2012 found those records could fail to connect restaurants or grocery stores where people became ill to the farms that produced the food.

Linking records through a lot code is designed to give investigators a clearer path from a food associated with illness back through its handling and production. A delayed enforcement start may give businesses and trading partners more time to prepare, but it also means the rule’s enforcement mechanism will not be available during the period set by Congress. The source material does not quantify how that delay will affect outbreak investigations or foodborne illness rates.

The distinction between a compliance date and a funding restriction matters. FDA had announced a proposed delay, but Congress later barred use of covered funds for administration and enforcement before July 20, 2028. That provision constrains the agency regardless of whether it would otherwise choose to begin enforcement sooner.

From Statutory Deadline to Funding Bar

Congress directed FDA in Section 204 of the Food Safety Modernization Act, signed in January 2011, to identify foods frequently linked to outbreaks and require stronger records for businesses that manufacture, process, pack or hold them. FDA was directed to propose a rule by January 2013, but missed that deadline. After two food-traceability pilot projects, the agency published a proposed rule on Sept. 23, 2020, and a final rule on Nov. 21, 2022. The final rule took effect Jan. 20, 2023, with a compliance date of Jan. 20, 2026.

In 2018, the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Environmental Health sued over the delay. A consent decree set deadlines for FDA’s proposed and final rules. In September 2023, FDA said it would not begin routine inspections until 2027. In March 2025, the agency announced its intention to push the compliance date back 30 months, to July 20, 2028, citing supply-chain partners that were not ready. FDA said the proposed extension would not amend the rule’s requirements. The extension proposal was published in August 2025.

Congress then enacted Section 780 of Division B of Public Law 119-37 on Nov. 12, 2025, as part of the legislation that ended a government shutdown. The provision bars use of funds appropriated by that law to administer or enforce the rule before July 20, 2028. It also directs FDA to meet quarterly with affected sectors, develop guidance on food-waste recovery, reclamation, intracompany transfers and customer returns, and test the agency’s own internal tracing system.

How the Rule Will Work in Practice

The source report says FDA’s proposed rule to extend the compliance date was published Aug. 7, 2025, but had not been finalized as of the report. The later congressional funding restriction establishes an enforcement bar through July 20, 2028, while the source does not explain whether or when FDA will take further formal action on its proposed extension.

It is also not clear what specific flexibilities FDA may recommend after its quarterly meetings, or whether those discussions will lead to changes in guidance, recordkeeping practices or the rule itself. Congress directed the agency to identify and implement flexibilities, but the source material does not provide a final list. Nor does it identify the likely costs of compliance for individual businesses or establish how the delay will affect particular investigations.

The source report says some industry groups supported extending the date and seeking targeted flexibilities, citing lobbying disclosures. Those disclosures show advocacy positions, not that industry lobbying alone caused the delay. The excerpt provided also ends before naming all lawmakers who supported the effort, so no complete account of their roles can be established from the supplied material.

Meeting and Comment Deadlines

FDA’s next scheduled public step is the Nov. 6, 2026, meeting. Those who want to speak must register by Oct. 26, and the agency will accept written comments in the identified docket through Dec. 6. The discussion is focused on challenges and possible solutions for lot-level traceability, including the practical role of lot codes.

Separately, the law calls for quarterly meetings between FDA and representatives of farms, restaurants, retailers and warehouses. The agency is also directed to issue guidance on the specified food recovery and transfer situations and to test its internal tracing system. The source material gives no dates for those deliverables beyond the recurring meeting requirement.

For covered businesses, the current federal restriction means FDA cannot use the funds covered by the law to administer or enforce the rule before July 20, 2028. Whether the agency or Congress will take further action before then, and what practical flexibilities will emerge from the consultations, remains to be seen.

Key Questions

Is the Food Traceability Rule still in effect?

The rule took effect on Jan. 20, 2023. The source report says Congress barred the FDA from using funds covered by Public Law 119-37 to administer or enforce it before July 20, 2028; it does not say the rule was repealed.

What foods are covered by the rule?

The rule covers specified foods on the FDA’s Food Traceability List, including leafy greens, certain fresh produce, shell eggs, soft cheeses, finfish, crustaceans and ready-to-eat deli salads. Coverage depends on the list and the rule’s definitions.

What is the FDA’s Nov. 6 meeting about?

The public meeting will address challenges and solutions in lot-level food traceability. Speakers must register by Oct. 26; written comments are due Dec. 6 in Docket No. FDA-2014-N-0053.

Does the delay remove the lot-code requirement?

The source report says FDA described its proposed extension as changing the timing, not the rule’s requirements. Congress also directed FDA to discuss flexibilities, but the material does not identify final changes to the lot-code requirement.

When can FDA enforce the rule?

The law bars the agency from using funds appropriated by Public Law 119-37 to administer or enforce the rule before July 20, 2028. The source material does not establish what enforcement arrangements may apply after that date.

Source: rss