The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) implemented the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) on May 27, 2017. The program requires importers (defined in the rule as the US owner or consignee of the imported food) to validate that the food items being imported have met US safety standards.

The FSVP rule allowed a temporary exemption for small businesses, but this exemption ends March 18, 2018. Small businesses that have taken advantage of this exemption should begin the process of establishing compliance with this requirement.

The FDA has additional information available on their website to help identify who is required to comply and details regarding the general requirements of FSVP. For any questions or comments, please contact Deringer’s Compliance Department at (518) 298-8281 or compliance@anderinger.com.