Christmas. Easter. Halloween. If it’s a holiday then Americans are spending.
A recent Journal of Commerce article, Imports Set to Surge, delivers growing import statistics and projects increased growth for coming months with the implication that retailers are building up stock for increased spending. “Imports from Asia in January rose 2.9 percent year-over-year, and Moreno forecasts traffic growth will level out at 2.5 percent in 2012,” the article states. Yet it seems that every time a gift-giving holiday comes around, importers are always behind in getting their product into the US and onto store shelves. Why is this? Although demand may be increasing the overall difficulty in importing is increasing along with it. In other words, just as demand is increasing so are the hurdles to jump through – both in number and in height. Importers often fail to take the following into account when it comes to time-sensitive holiday imports:
Import Alerts can automatically hold/stop your shipment and they change all the time
FDA is constantly shifting where they’re placing inspection emphasis. You can’t rely on it year after year – and holiday items are a favorite staple for FDA import testing
FSMA has, and will be, changing the food import landscape. Things will only continue to change through July 2013 (last FSMA due date) and beyond
FDA loves to test for color additives during the holiday season, and to stock up on the related import alerts (45-02 for colors in foods and 53-06 for cosmetics)
Just because a previous shipment did not have a problem doesn’t mean that there wasn’t one (or that the next one won’t)
What would it be worth to avoid all the delays caused by the issues above? What would it cost you to have to deal with a delay for holiday items because of the above list? The bottom line is that most of the causes of FDA detentions or delays can be prevented. Yet even if you do everything right and still run into trouble, there’s always a way through if you have the right team working for you. We speak this confidently because we help our clients prevent problems before they ship and help them work through problems if they’re already in process. It’s what we do every day.
Want to make sure you avoid these problems this year? Contact us now.
Sources
Imports Set to Surge. Journal of Commerce, March 19, 2012. Page 6
