fda

Fda - Export food to USA

If you have decided to sell food products online in the United States, you will have to deal with the FDA, which is the acronym of Food and Drug Administration (FDA), l’Agenzia americana che si occupa di supervisionare e regolare il mercato statunitense dei prodotti alimentari, sanitari e cosmetici.

The FDA was created with the need to prevent bioterrorism from the agribusiness supply chain and avoid exposing U.S. citizens themselves to health risks from consuming unchecked foods.

Registration is free at the website of https://www.fda.gov/ and is generally issued within 48 hours, once issued the registration should be entered the relevant code on each document of the relevant shipments. The registration must be renewed every two years.

An FDA agent will then be appointed, mandatory if the head office is located outside the United States. The agent must be based or domiciled in the USA, is a person of formal representation,  non-commercial, to which you turn in case of problems. The agent is required simply to simplify the process of communication with the exporting company, a fast and economical way with which the government is able to relate as soon as possible, that with the exporting company, in case of urgent communications.

Messa a norma FSMA, nel 2011 è stato introdotto il Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). L’introduzione del FSMA, infatti, ha portato l’intensificazione delle ispezioni e ha ampliato i poteri della FDA che può non solo imporre il ritiro di un prodotto dal mercato, ma anche imporre ad uno stabilimento lo stop preventivo della produzione. La FSMA cerca di controllare tutta la filiera di produzione, questo vale sia per gli Statunitensi che per gli esportatori Esteri. La nuova norma si va a integrare quindi con la precedente. Bisognerà presentare il Food Safety Plan per garantire la sicurezza alimentare delle nostre esportazioni.

In addition to the standard on FSMA and the related documentation, the products must have specific requirements regarding the label:

  • labelling, as Italian or/or European labels are not FDA-compliant, must be written in English. The FDA also determines what to write and how to write it. The elements to be reported on the front are: product name, net weight, allergens, preservatives and dyes, claims, information on manufacturer/distributor/importer.
  • nutritional tables that must refer to the normally consumed portions of that product, and not referred to 100g of product that are usually reported on the Italian ones.
  • FCE registration, for canned or vacuum products with low acidity, canned, artificially acidified products. This control is to preserve from the risk of the development of botulinum. The company then has to do the FCE registration to which the SID number is assigned.
  • Import perit, or the request for import of all foods containing animal proteins, not fully cooked (milk, eggs, ice cream.).

Although it may seem insidious the process relying on professionals in the sector you will be able to export your Italian specialties in total tranquility.