The Hindu Business Line : US tightens norms for processed food imports

THE processed food exporters from India to the US should no longer be content with merely shipping their consignments as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now mandated that foreign and domestic units that manufacture, process, pack or hold food to be consumed by humans or animals in the US are required to register with an agency.

The FDA also demands to be served prior notice before food is imported or offered for import into the country, according to a US Public Affairs Office of the US Embassy here, quoting a Federal Government statement issued in Washington on August 22.

The proposed rules, mandated by the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, are expected to go into effect from December 12. Another rule would require specific records about a food's "immediate previous sources and immediate subsequent recipients" to be kept and retained. A fourth rule would identify procedures under which the FDA would administratively detain food that presents a serious health threat to humans or animals.

The FDA said it expects the final registration requirements would be published by mid-October to allow the food industry time to understand the new requirements and comply by December 12, 2003, the date specified by the Congress. FDA is proposing that certain facilities — including restaurants, non-processing fishing vessels and facilities regulated exclusively by the US Department of Agriculture — be exempt from the rules.

Official sources told Business Line here that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has already alerted the Indian processed food exporters and the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Agency (APRDA) has held a series of awareness workshops within the country in recent months so as to apprise the exporters about the imminent tougher food import rules of the US. The new rules are the consequence of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002.

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