When the Bioterrorism Act was passed in 2002, a provision was included called “Prohibition of Port Shopping”. The provision did nothing of the sort. Rather, it deemed as adulterated a food that had been previously imported and refused, and then re-imported, unless the importer provided affirmative evidence that the food complied with the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). In that regard, the provision did the opposite: It created a way to re-import previously refused food. FDAImports.com routinely used that provision to obtain admission into the USA for imported food that FDA had refused previously for administrative reasons. However, when the food was re-imported, there was no way to notify FDA that the food had previously been refused.
When FSMA was passed, Congress added a provision to the Prior Notice section of the law requiring food importers to include in their Prior Notice for Imported Food whether the food had ever been previously refused by any country. Of course, the USA is one country of the set called “any country,” so now there is a way to notify FDA, when re-importing previously refused food, that it had been previously refused by FDA.
If you have a refused imported food shipment, and that refusal was due to some administrative reason, we may be able to salvage the shipment and obtain release (by rescission of the refusal) or by re-importation. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your business successfully import into the U.S. market.
