Are you verifying your foreign suppliers? FDA continues to crack down

The FDA took action against a food importer who failed to establish procedures to verify food safety standards of their foreign supplier before importing to the US. While investigating a product recall that was associated with to a particular brand of noodles, FDA investigators visited the offices of the U.S.-based importer New India Bazar, Inc. To their surprise they discovered the importer had neglected to meet the FDA’s food safety requirements and failed to develop, maintain and follow an FSVP plan. As a result, the FDA issued the importer a Warning Letter and gave the importer 15 days to respond or face penalties, such as detention of all associated products, refusal to permit the products to enter the US, or other potential criminal penalties.

The Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) rule was issued by FDA after passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act. The FSVP rule requires food and dietary supplement importers to perform “risk-based activities” to verify that the food they bring into the United States has been produced in a manner that meets U.S. food safety standards. Almost all importers are now required to have in place an FSVP program.

So if you are a U.S. food importer, I’m sure you are wondering how the FSVP rule applies to you. For starters you need to pay attention because compliance with FSVP is now mandatory. Importers found in violation of the FSVP rule can face a variety of penalties, from seizure of the imported products to criminal prosecution. The FDA is currently conducting regulatory audits of importers and has made this new initiative their priority. It is critical before you ship food or supplements to the US to have a FSVP plan in place. You are also required to have an FSVP Agent physically located in the US to carry out your FSVP Plan.

If you have questions about FSVP or need to develop a FSVP plan or engage a US-based FSVP Agent, US Imports can help! Please feel free to contact US Imports if you have any further questions.