The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a notice on December 1, 2020, reminding food importers of the food facility registration renewal period ending December 31, 2020. If your registration is not renewed by 11:59 PM on December 31, 2020, the registration is considered expired and will be removed from your account. FDA food facility registration is a biennial requirement resulting from the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which requires the submission of additional registration information by facilities engaged in manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding food for consumption in the US.

Starting this year, all facilities must include a unique facility identifier (UFI) with the registration submission. Currently, FDA only recognizes the Data Universal Numbering System D-U-N-S (DUNS) number, assigned by Dun & Bradstreet (DnB), as an acceptable UFI. To obtain or verify an existing DUNS number, visit the FDA DUNS Portal (new users will need to create an account to access the portal). According to CSMS #45058572, the FDA DUNS Portal was not available last week; however, users can also use Dun & Bradstreet’s D-U-N-S page for this functionality or email D&B for duns lookup support.

For additional information on food facility registration, visit FDA’s Registration of Food Facilities and Other Submissions. If Deringer acts as your US Agent for food facility registration and you have questions, please contact Deringer’s FDA team.