In 2011, the US Government passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Â The purpose of this legislation is to prevent contamination rather than simply reacting after a problem is discovered. Â The FSMA implementation will occur in stages, one of which will go into effect on May 30th, 2017. Â This stage is called the FSVP, or Foreign Supplier Verification Program. The FSVP will have a direct impact on both resident (US based) and non-resident (foreign based) importers.
Non-resident importers will now be required to provide two data elements, at the time of entry, to obtain FDA release of their goods into the Customs territory of the United States. These two elements are: The name and contact information of the person (at the US buyer) that will be responsible for the FSVP activities and the DUNS number of the US party. Â The DUNS number is a unique, nine (9) digit, number for each physical location of a business.
Resident importers and buyers of foreign manufactured and grown food may need to perform a variety of functions in order to be in compliance with the FSVP. Â The main responsibility will be to have a qualified individual to develop a foreign supplier verification program for their company. Â Additionally, this employee will need to perform hazard analysis, evaluate risks, conduct supplier verification, and take corrective action (if needed). Â The foreign suppliers will need to be reevaluated every three (3) years.
On May 3rd, US Customs issued a CSMS message updating the implementation.  Though reporting the DUNS number and contact information will still be mandatory on May 30th, 2017, the FDA will allow for the submission of “UNK†(unknown) in place of the DUNS number TEMPORARILY for the on-boarding period.  CBP will also issue a CSMS message at a “later date” to indicate when “UNK†will no longer be accepted.
Though this shows a slight reprieve from the May 30th ‘hard’ deadline for the DUNS number, we do recommend that all of our clients continue to work diligently to obtain FSVP contacts and DUNS numbers from their US buyers.
To obtain a DUNS number for free, visit www.fdadunslookup.com. Â DUNS numbers should be unique for each firm (a corporate headquarters with multiple company locations should not have the same DUNS number for each site). Each unique site (address) should have a unique DUNS number.
DUNS Numbers can be obtained by US parties here
FSMA Technical Assistance Network (TAN)
FSMA Rules and Guidance for Industry