FDA Opens Application Period for VQIP Trusted Trader Program for Food Importers

The Food and Drug Administration on Jan. 31 began accepting applications to participate in its new trusted trader program for food imports, it said in a constituent update. Importers that meet the Voluntary Qualified Importer Program’s eligibility criteria may now apply on the FDA website, with applications due by May 31, FDA said. FDA’s application requires information identifying the VQIP importer, Foreign Supplier Verification Program documentation, filer or broker contact information, contact information for the foreign supplier and a list of foods the importer would like to benefit from VQIP.

Under VQIP, importers will receive benefits including expedited entry, limited examination and sampling, FDA sampling at the importer’s preferred location and faster lab results, and access to a special “help desk,” FDA said (see 1611100028). In return, importers must ensure their suppliers are certified by third-party certification bodies. An annual fee will be due on Oct. 1, estimated at $16,400 in past FDA guidance documents but as yet uncalculated for 2018 participants. FDA was originally set to begin accepting VQIP applications Jan. 1 before delaying the application period due to concerns over readiness of its third-party certification program (see 1801020011).

FDA also announced it has recognized the “first accreditation body under the voluntary Accredited Third-Party Certification Program” as created by the Food Safety Modernization Act. “The organization being recognized is ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB), an organization jointly owned by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the American Society for Quality (ASQ) based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” FDA said. FDA is recognizing the accreditation body for a period of five years, it said.

Having now been recognized by FDA, ANAB will now be able to accredit third-party certifiers. Beyond their required use in VQIP, FDA has also said it expects FSVP importers may use third-party certifiers in their verification activities (see 1511190058). “FDA can also require, in certain circumstances, that imported products, or the facilities that produce them, be certified before they enter the United States,” it said in its constituent update. “While FDA does not generally require certification as a condition of entry into the United States, this is an important new tool granted by FSMA that will allow FDA to ensure that serious, ongoing food safety problems are corrected at their source.”