FDA Issues Guidance Documents to Help Importers and Food Producers Meet FSMA Requirements
Yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued five guidance documents to help importers and food producers meet key food safety provisions mandated by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
Two of these documents, a draft guidance and a Small Entity Compliance Guide (SECG), are meant to help industry meet the requirements of the Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) regulation. The draft guidance provides FDA’s current thinking on how best to comply with the FSVP requirements. Importers are responsible for ensuring that their foreign suppliers use processes and procedures that provide at least the same level of public health protection as the preventive controls or produce safety regulations, if applicable, and to ensure that the suppliers’ food is not adulterated or misbranded with respect to allergen labeling. The SECG offers specific guidance to small businesses.