Under the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), registration is no longer for an indefinite period and must be renewed by January 31, 2013. The new measure does not apply to companies that export products to the U.S. directly, or manufacturers of beef, pork, and poultry meat.
San Jose, Costa Rica, December 18, 2012 (IICA). Manufacturers, processors, packagers and handlers that wish to continue to export foodstuffs to the U.S. are now obliged to renew their registration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) every two years.
Lisa López, Assistant Regional Director of the FDA for Latin America, explained the new renewal procedure at a conference organized by the Agricultural Health and Food Safety Program of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), an activity in which a number of countries in the hemisphere took part.
According to López, under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) signed into law in 2011, registration ceased to be for an indefinite period and companies are required to renew it between October 22 and December 31, 2012, and very two years thereafter. The deadline has since been extended to January 31, 2013. Any exporter of food products to the U.S. must renew its registration by that date.
“Registration is not necessary for companies that export their products to the country directly. Nor is it for beef, poultry or pork producers, as they fall under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Agriculture,” López explained.
The specialist also emphasized that registration had to be renewed for each facility operated by food production businesses, since it did cover the entire company.
Registration can be renewed in various ways: through the FDA’s Web page, or by e-mail, postal mail, or fax.
The address of the website is www.access.fda.gov. A PIN number supplied by the FDA is required to perform the process through the Web page. A letter with details of the company must be sent first, and it can take four to eight weeks for a PIN number to be issued, López said.
Therefore, companies that do not have a PIN number but need to renew their registration by January 31, 2013 should do so by e-mail, postal mail, or fax.
“If registration is not renewed, it may be canceled, and any products shipped would be rejected at the point of entry,” López explained.
The FDA Assistant Regional Director for Latin America pointed out that new categories of products had been included in the registration system, so it was important for companies renewing their registration to bear in mind the new parameters. She also emphasized that renewal was free, unless a re-inspection was required.
For more information, contact:
US-FDA-LAO@fda.hhs.gov
ana.cordero@iica.int
