Food Imports From Unregistered Foreign Facilities Face US Entry Denial Threat

U.S. Customs and Border Protection warned food importers yesterday that it is prepared to refuse admission to a significant number of food shipments manufactured, prepared and/or packaged in foreign food facilities that have failed to meet new Food & Drug Administration (FDA) re-registration requirements imposed by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

Pursuant to FSMA, all domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food, beverages, food ingredients, pet foods or dietary supplements for consumption in the United States were required to complete a new registration as a food facility with the FDA by January 31, 2013. The failure to register means the offending facility registration number can be suspended, effectively prohibiting the importation, distribution or sale of food from the suspended facility.

“The government’s aggressive stance on this is proof that FSMA implementation is now affecting food importers and food companies in a tangible way,” says Edgar Asebey, Executive Director of FDA Solutions Group, a regulatory compliance company specializing in FDA-related matters. “The facilities are the ones that have to register, but it is the importer that is going to be left holding the bag if they don’t. Importers are strongly encouraged to contact their suppliers to make sure they have met the re-registration requirements of FSMA and to confirm the new registration numbers,” he adds.

FDA Solutions Group makes it easy for food facilities to protect against suspension and costly business interruptions through its easy-to-use, multi-lingual registration and U.S. agent services. Since language barriers can be an impediment to registration, FDA Solutions Group’s website offers FDA-related services in a number of languages, including English, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. For FDA compliance services, including food facility registration, or to learn more, please visit www.fdasolutionsgroup.com or call us at 305-702-3161.