Agencies List Plans for Food Cert, Seafood Permit, Other Changes in Regulatory Agenda
FDA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies with a hand in regulating trade included several new import-related rules on their regulatory agendas for fall 2021. FDA finally hopes to issue a proposal on certifications for high-risk imports, while NOAA lists two rules amending its regulations on seafood import permits and certifications of admissibility.
FDA’s fall regulatory agenda for the first time lists a proposal to require, “as a condition of importation of food with known safety risk, a certification or such other assurances as the Agency determines appropriate, that imported food complies with U.S food safety requirements.” The agency said in the agenda that it hopes to issue the proposed rule, mandated by Section 801(a) of the Food Safety Modernization Act, in September.
FDA also lists a new proposed rule that would extend compliance dates for produce other than sprouts for agricultural water provisions of the agency’s FSMA produce safety regulations. A newly listed FDA direct final rule would exempt manufacturers, repackers, relabelers or salvagers of certain medicated feeds from drug establishment registration requirements.
NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service for the first time lists on its agenda a proposal to amend its regulations on its seafood import permits. The proposed rule would amend “what qualifies as the U.S. resident business address of the International Fisheries Trade Permit holder and the permit holder's obligation to ensure timely access to and production of the required supply chain records in the event of an audit,” NMFS said. It would also “clarify the role of the permit holder as the importer of record and to specify when and how the permit can be used and by whom,” it said.
Seafood importers would likely be affected by the proposed regulatory changes “through increased reporting and recordkeeping requirements,” though the impact would be minor because the required documentation is already transmitted. Permit status would be verified electronically in ACE, and “supply chain records to support import audits could be stored, retrieved and submitted to NMFS electronically, thereby reducing the burden on NMFS and the trade community.”
Another NMFS proposal would strengthen the agency’s authority to impose targeted import restrictions on specific countries and their flag vessels, and require a certification of admissibility for such imports. “NMFS is amending the import permitting requirements, the reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and entry filing requirements,” and could under the proposal “revoke the Certification of Admissibility if exporting nation officials do not exercise due diligence in documenting the origin of fishery products shipped to the United States,” NMFS said.
A newly listed interim rule and proposed rule that would be concurrently issued by the Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau would implement the transfer of Craft Beverage Modernization Act tax benefit authority from CBP to TTB. Under the proposal, “importers will no longer be eligible for the lower CBMA tax rates at the time of entry. Rather, importers will be required to pay the full tax rate at entry and submit refund claims to Treasury to receive the lower rates,” TTB said.
Other newly listed rules in the Fall 2021 Unified Agenda include a Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to revise requirements for importing eiderdown; an EPA proposal to set restrictions on hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) imports by the refrigeration, air conditioning, aerosol and foam sectors, and establishing recordkeeping and reporting requirements; and a Food Safety and Inspection Service proposal that would update the agency’s criteria for evaluating whether a foreign country is eligible to export meat, catfish, poultry or egg products to the U.S.