Third-Party Certification and Inspection Modernization Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill would let the government use private companies to check if food factories are following safety rules. Right now, the FDA does most of these checks, but this plan would allow trusted third-party groups to help out.
• Both American food companies and foreign ones that ship food to the U.S. could use these private inspectors. This helps the government keep track of more facilities than they could on their own.
• The FDA would use the results from these private audits to decide which places are safe and which ones might need a surprise visit from government inspectors. This helps the agency focus its time on the biggest risks to public health.
• To make sure the private inspectors are doing a good job, the government will set up a system to officially recognize the groups that train and oversee them. This ensures everyone is following the same high standards for food safety.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.