Food Exports
The Food and Drug Administration is accepting through Jan. 7 comments on its approach to managing certifications for exports of FDA-regulated human food products.
The FDA issues various types of export certificates and certifications (in the form of export lists) to help ensure foreign market access for U.S. exporters of FDA-regulated food products. FDA export certification provides information concerning a product's regulatory status, often including information about the establishment in which the product was manufactured, packaged, and/or prepared. In many cases, foreign governments are seeking official assurance that products exported from the U.S. to their countries can be marketed in the U.S. or that the products meet specific U.S. regulations. A foreign government may also require export certification as part of the process to register or import a product into that country.
The FDA does not currently charge firms to be included on export lists for human food but is now considering a change to that policy. The FDA explains that certification is an intensive process due to both the development of a mutually acceptable listing procedure with foreign countries and then the maintenance of the export lists. As of August 2024 the FDA provides certification in the form of export lists that cover 19 categories of products for Chile, China, the European Union, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.
The FDA has therefore issued a request for comments on several related issues, including experiences with other countries’ certification requirements, the FDA’s renewal process, export challenges, and potential user fees.
Poultry Imports
The Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has imposed the restrictions listed below on importations from the following areas based on determinations that highly-pathogenic avian influenza exists in domestic birds in these areas
- Kagawa Prefecture, Japan (effective Nov. 8)
- Miyagi Prefecture, Japan (effective Nov. 10)
- zone PCZ-238 in Saskatchewan, Canada (effective Oct. 29)
- zone PCZ-239 in British Columbia, Canada (effective Oct. 30)
- zones PCZ-240 and -241 in British Columbia, Canada (effective Oct. 31)
- Imports of unprocessed avian products and byproducts and certain fresh poultry products originating from or transiting this area are prohibited.
- Imports of poultry, commercial birds, ratites, and hatching eggs originating from or transiting this area are prohibited.
- Processed avian products and byproducts originating from or transiting this area, imported as cargo, must be accompanied by an APHIS import permit and/or government certification confirming that the products were treated according to APHIS requirements.
- Importation as cargo of fresh, unprocessed shell/table eggs and other egg products, void of the shell (i.e., liquid eggs, dried egg whites), originating from or transiting this area is prohibited unless the products are consigned from the port of arrival directly to an APHIS-approved breaking and pasteurization facility. An import permit and/or certificate is not required for these shipments when consigned directly to an APHIS-approved establishment.
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