For the second consecutive year, DFK has strengthened its collaboration with the Food Export Council (FEC) to support Egyptian food manufacturers and exporters in meeting international regulatory requirements. As part of this ongoing partnership, Dr. Dima Faour-Klingbeil delivered a webinar in July focused on the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and the FDA’s Food Traceability Rule.
The webinar organized and hosted by the FEC provided exporters with essential guidance for accessing and maintaining compliance in the U.S. food market. Dr. Faour-Klingbeil outlined the transformative nature of FSMA, the most comprehensive reform of U.S. food safety law in decades, which shifts the regulatory system from reacting to food safety incidents to preventing them.
During the session, she explained FSMA’s core principles, including preventive controls, inspection and compliance mechanisms, import oversight, and the FDA’s authority to act swiftly on products suspected of contamination. She highlighted key rules that foreign suppliers must understand and especially the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP), which requires U.S. importers to verify that their foreign suppliers meet U.S. standards.
A major focus of the webinar was the FDA’s Food Traceability Rule, which expands traceability requirements across the global food supply chain. Dr. Faour-Klingbeil detailed the obligations for documenting Key Data Elements (KDEs) and Critical Tracking Events (CTEs), underscoring the rule’s significance for high-risk foods and the need for robust record-keeping systems to enhance recall efficiency and supply-chain transparency. Dr. Faour-Klingbeil urged Egyptian exporters to proactively strengthen their compliance systems to avoid border rejections and improve their competitiveness in the U.S. FEC emphasized that these training initiatives form part of a broader strategy to expand export capabilities and support companies participating in major global trade events.
For more information, Watch the webinar in this link:
