As more organizations incorporate technology in newfound ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness, government agencies have done the same. Take, for instance, the CPSC’s new recall app, which makes recall information more accessible to consumers on their mobile devices. Now government agencies are looking towards companies to apply the latest technologies to protecting consumer safety.

In a recent statement, the FDA expressed its expectations that companies use even more technology in the execution of recalls. The FDA’s guidance on the “Initiation of Voluntary Recalls Under 21 CFR Part 7, Subpart C” is helpful for anyone undergoing a recall and includes recommendations in three key areas: (1) Training, (2) Record Keeping, and (3) Procedures. In particular, the FDA has openly embraced “tapping into modern approaches such as Blockchain technology to further advance [their] mission of protecting public health.” This is an endorsement of sorts of Walmart and its Sam’s Club division’s plans to implement Blockchain technology to provide real-time, end-to-end traceability of leafy green products back to their suppliers’ farms in September 2019.

In addition to the FDA, many government agencies have expressed their commitment to using new technology to protect consumers from potentially dangerous products. In addition to its new app, the CPSC offers CPSC Recall Widgets that will allow others to put CPSC recall information on their own websites. If you’re a member of the consumer product industry, automotive industry or any other industry where recalls and corrective actions are necessary, you should take note.

To read the statement made by FDA Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs Melinda K. Plaiser regarding the agency’s issue of new draft guidance on the initiation of regulatory affairs, click here.

To view the proposed draft guidance for the initiation of voluntary recalls, click here.

To learn how the use of Blockchain in product recalls also could impact the insurance underwriting process, click here.