FDA Issues Warning Letter to U.S. Importer for FSVP violation

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Warning Letter to  U.S. food  importer, B&I Overseas Trading Inc., for failing to implement supplier verification protocols, as required under the “Foreign Supplier Verification Program” (FSVP), to assure that fish imported by the company into the U.S. was produced in accordance with U.S. food safety regulations.

In the FDA Warning Letter dated April 26, 2017 the FDA alleges:

“… you do not have or have not implemented written verification procedures, product specifications, and an affirmative step for ensuring that fish you import are processed in compliance with the Seafood HACCP regulation,”

Although seafood subject to the seafood HACCP regulations is considered “excluded” from the FSVP, the importer must still take steps ensure that the foreign supplier is in compliance with FDA’s seafood HACCP requirements.  In most cases, a review of the written HACCP program, along with a statement of compliance from a “qualified individual” is sufficient verification.

For assistance evaluating your import operations and guidance on how to comply with FSVP, contact Ann Marie Gaitan at [email protected].