NMPF Pleased With NCIMS Results
May 13, 2019
The 2019 National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments meeting that ran from April 26-May 1 in St. Louis was an overall win for U.S. dairy producers, as NMPF staff, members and state and federal agencies successfully debated and secured modifications that help the industry.
The widely attended biennial conference included more than 400 federal, state and industry leaders. NMPF had submitted several proposals, three of which were considered “must-pass”:
- A proposal for streamlining the information required on a shipping statement for milk and milk products;
- A proposal on antibiotic testing that provides clarity on confirmation testing for antibiotic residues;
- And a proposal recognizing the importance of drug residue testing by making the ad-hoc committee on drug residue testing a permanent full standing committee.
Through collaboration with our members, the processing industry and our state and federal partners, all three proposals successfully made it through the complex NCIMS process.
NMPF also played a key role in advancing proposals from others that we felt warranted approval. NMPF helped craft modifications to several proposals that would have failed without the changes.
For example, an initiative to address how Grade “A” dairy plants that produce Grade “A” and non-Grade “A” products are to be inspected under the authorities of the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was modified with NMPF’s help.
The changes resolved conflicts among the states and the FDA that, before the conference, were very much in conflict as to how inspections were to be conducted. The states, industry and FDA came to a solution that will maximize state and federal resources and create greater efficiencies while maintaining milk safety. FDA and an NCIMS committee will develop and implement a pilot to ensure these inspections are done sensibly.
The conference began on Friday, April 26th with committee discussions. About half of the 74 submitted proposals were assigned to a committee for an initial review. During the committee review a proposal can be passed, rejected or modified. A proposal that passes as submitted or modified then goes to a Council for further review. Councils then have the option to approve, reject or modify proposals prior to passing them on to the state delegates, where again the proposals could be accepted, rejected or modified.
NMPF will issue a special edition Regulatory Register which will cover conference proceedings and outcomes in more detail.
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