Dietary supplement importers must engage an agent physically located in the United States to verify their foreign suppliers compliance with U.S food safety laws. In fact, in 2019 the FDA cited the lack of developing a foreign supplier verification program (FSVP) as one of the most cited violations for FDA registered facilities. The deadline for FSVP compliance has now passed, so all importers must have a FSVP plan in place before shipping. FDA requires importers to present their FSVP's upon request.

The FSVP rule requires 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.

One of the key elements of the FSVP rule for foreign dietary supplement importers or exporters with no employees located in the U.S. is the requirement to designate an "agent" to carry out FSVP responsibilities on behalf of the importer. The agreement with the agent must be in writing and the agen...