us 2009 food safety enhancement act in june 2010 china expressed concerns related to the us 2009 food safety enhancement act. the us congress had proposed several new measures including required registration for export food companies follow-u inspections compulsory certification for high risk imported products and the expansion of fda authority. china asked the united states to notify these new measures and to provide the opportunity for members to make comments before the adoption of the legislation. india expressed the need to understand the proposed legislation. indian industry had questions regarding the duration of the registration process whether it was modelled on international standards whether foreign government and sector associations would be notified before or after a food facility was inspected and how the fast-track process for registration would work. once it had a better understanding of this process india would seek further clarification. the united states clarified that the us congress was in the process of considering this legislation and it was not clear when the bill would become law if at all. accordingly because the food safety enhancement act was not a sps measure the united states did not believe it was appropriate to comment on it at this time. however if this bill or any other food safety legislation did become law the united states would alert its trading partners and would notify the wto accordingly. in march 2011 china supported by costa rica and pakistan stated that despite promises to that effect the united states had not notified the draft us food safety modernization act fsma before the act was formally adopted in january 2011. hence members were only provided an opportunity to comment on the act when it was notified by the united states on 2 march 2011. china asked that the united states notify draft regulations from the act so that members would have an opportunity to provide comments. jamaica raised several concerns regarding the fsma relating to i guidelines on the mandatory preventative controls for food facilities ii produce safety standards in place in jamaica and other caricom countries iii the status of the jamaican bureau of standards inspection checklist vis-a-vis the mandatory inspection of foreign facilities commencing in 2012 iv special and differential treatment with regards to the implementation period for enhancing food tracing and record-keeping v foods tested by an accredited laboratory in jamaica and whether they would need to be tested in the united states vi the determination of the eligibility of a body listed as one of the accreditation bodies and vii training and funding on the interpretation and implementation of the act. the philippines requested that the measures and standards of the act not be unnecessarily burdensome nor unduly increase the cost of compliance for small industries. mexico expressed concern regarding the administration of foods and that some elements of the act were not based on science. mexico noted that it would submit its comments to the relevant authorities. the united states indicated that members would be given an opportunity to comment on draft regulations before they were finalized and became binding on affected parties including food manufacturers and importers. the fsma required that fda publish regulations and guidance documents to implement the provisions of the law and the fda would publish those documents over the next several years. regarding jamaicas comments on food controls regulations would be developed and jamaica would have the opportunity to comment during the drafting process. the concerns regarding the inspection frequency and checklists would be forwarded to the fda for consideration. the united states further noted that concerning jamaicas queries on food tracing record-keeping and laboratory accreditation draft regulations would take into consideration information provided by members as well as existin