K A S H R U T . C O M_©

The following news is from the FDA and FoodManufacturing.com posted on June 10, 2015.

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is establishing a voluntary, fee-based program for the expedited review and importation of foods into the United States from importers with a proven food safety track record." "The Voluntary Qualified Importer Program, which was mandated under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, allows food importers to request that selected products receive expedited reviews from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."
"If approved, those foods would be examined or sampled by the FDA only when associated with a public health risk. When necessary, the samples would be taken at the importers’ preferred locations and the examination would be expedited during the laboratory or auditing process."
"Importers would pay a fee to cover the FDA's costs of administering the program."

"There will be a public comment period of 75 days on the draft guidance and the guidelines related to the burden of fees on small businesses. After comments are considered and the guidance finalized, the program is expected to be open for applications in January 2018 to allow enough time for a facility to be certified under FDA’s Accredited Third Party Certification program."