FDA’s electronic import entry review systems will be down for major upgrades from this Saturday, May 9, 2015 at 1:00 am EDT until Sunday, May 10 at 1:00 am EDT. This will impact primarily food imports and perishable imports. In addition to Prior Notices submitted through the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) being affected, this system downtime will delay FDA review of import entries and no ABI entries will be released during this down time. This will impact perishable shipments and all other time-sensitive entries. If you need help addressing FDA import issues or have any questions or concerns on this matter, you may contact us and we will try to get through to your local FDA office.
FDA’s Division of Food Defense Targeting (the Prior Notice readers) indicated that Prior Notice submissions may be transmitted via ABI during the downtime but will not be processed until afterwards. This makes one wonder why the food industry is required to submit prior notice if FDA will not review them until two days after they were filed (and after the food arrived). FDA states the timeliness of the Prior Notice submission should not be affected by the downtime but you will not receive a Prior Notice confirmation until after 1:00 am this Sunday, May 10.
To avoid possible confusion, Prior Notice submitters/transmitters may choose to wait until after the downtime – but only if waiting to file Prior Notice does not cause the Prior Notice submission to be late. This again begs the question about why the food industry is even required to submit the Prior Notices. Remember that there are Prior Notice deadlines that always apply (even if FDA can’t get around to reviewing them for a couple days):
• 2 hours before arrival, if the food is arriving by land by road
• 4 hours before arrival, if the food is arriving by land by rail
• 4 hours before arrival, if the food is arriving by air
• 8 hours before arrival, if the food is arriving by water
Hence, to avoid missing the applicable Prior Notice deadline, it is recommended that the Prior Notice be transmitted before 1:00 am EDT this Saturday, May 9.
Alternatively, Prior Notice may be transmitted using the FDA’s online Prior Notice System Interface (PNSI) to receive an immediate Prior Notice confirmation. If you need help with filing Prior Notice through PNSI, please contact us.
FDAImports’s consultants and affiliated attorneys regularly provide guidance and representation with respect to all aspects FDA’s import entry review systems.
