Leading international trade and regulatory law firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., announced today that former Food and Drug Administration official Domenic J. Veneziano has become an independent FDA regulatory and strategic consultant to the firm. Veneziano’s affiliation with ST&R follows a distinguished 24-year career with the FDA and, according to the firm’s leadership, will bolster the firm’s commitment to helping importers adjust to requirements under the Food Safety Modernization Act and transition to filing in the Automated Commercial Environment.
“Domenic’s experience and knowledge will be invaluable to ST&R clients facing an import safety environment with complex new rules, enforcement-minded agencies, and unprecedented public scrutiny,” said ST&R Founding Member Lee Sandler. “His understanding of the complex regulations being issued under FSMA will enhance our ability to assist clients to ensure compliance and maintain competitiveness. In addition, his close involvement with the FDA’s ongoing transition to electronic import filing in ACE will enable him to be a key resource for importers both to prepare and benefit from that change.”
As a consultant for ST&R, Mr. Veneziano will work closely with ST&R’s FDA Practice Group to provide advice to producers, importers, exporters and distributors of FDA-regulated commodities; to evaluate medical device and food facilities to determine compliance with good manufacturing practice regulations and the FSMA; and to assist ST&R clients in correcting any deviations found during FDA inspections or third-party audits.
As director of the FDA’s Division of Import Operations for the last ten (10) years, Mr. Veneziano was responsible for oversight of FDA’s import operations program and provided leadership, guidance, and direction to approximately 1,000 field investigators in more than 320 U.S. ports of entry. He also served as co-lead in the development of the FSMA import regulations and was senior advisor on the implementation of FSMA and the FDA Safety and Innovation Act. He represented FDA on the Automated Commercial Environment/International Trade Data System board of directors and the Border Interagency Executive Council and was responsible for ensuring that all FDA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection systems such as PREDICT and ACE met all operational needs.
Mr. Veneziano began his FDA career in 1992 as a field investigator in the New England District specializing in medical device inspections. In 1998 he became a supervisory investigator in New England overseeing the medical device and import programs and in 2003 he established, staffed, and directed the Prior Notice Center, FDA’s first 24/7/365 operational office.
Since 1977, Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. has set the standard for providing comprehensive and effective international trade-related and federal regulatory legal and consulting services to clients across the globe. Together with its related global trade managed services and consulting company, Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services (STTAS), ST&R’s reach spans North America, South America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Along with regulatory compliance and enforcement, the attorneys and consultants that comprise ST&R’s FDA Practice Group help companies with all matters arising under the federal and state laws and regulations affecting the production, distribution, importation, exportation, and global marketing of foods, drugs, medical devices and cosmetics.
To learn more about ST&R’s FDA practice, visit www.strtrade.com.
