As a food-safety lawyer, I spend a significant portion of my time analyzing the actions of FSIS and trying to figure out what’s coming next. In the past, while attempting to accurately predict which new policies the agency will likely pursue in the coming months and years, the most effective tools I have found in most cases have been my raw instinct and my “best educated guess.” When it comes to the new policy initiatives FSIS intends pursue in the next five years, however, FSIS has taken much of the guess work out of the equation.
Indeed, FSIS has just unveiled its five-year strategic plan that details the agency’s goals for the next 60 months. In the 64-page document, FSIS announces that it will pursue three broad goals relating to its food safety mission. The three goals articulated by FSIS are to: (1) prevent foodborne illness and protect the public health; (2) modernize the federal inspection system, FSIS policies and the use of scientific approaches; and (3) achieve, in the agency’s words, “operational excellence.”