Agencies Team Up to Protect Food Supply

The Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have launched a new joint effort to protect the nation's food supply. Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in December 2003, thousands of Customs agents are now authorized to inspect foods imported into the United States.

Signed by FDA Commissioner Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., and CBP Deputy Commissioner Douglas Browning, the agreement allows the FDA to commission CBP officers in ports and other locations to conduct, on the agency's behalf, investigations and examinations of imported foods. This unprecedented FDA-CBP collaboration significantly strengthens the implementation of the Bioterrorism Act to ensure the security of imported foods.

"This MOU is an important milestone in our extensive efforts to protect the safety and security of the national food supply," McClellan said at the signing ceremony on Dec. 3, 2003. "It enables us to work more efficiently with CBP, combining their strong resources with our own expertise in keeping on the alert for potentially hazardous foods and responding to possible threats. We are committed to using the bioterrorism law to safeguard our food supply to the fullest extent possible, without imposing any unnecessary costs or restrictions on food imports."

"We are pleased to be an integral part of this new initiative to safeguard the country's food products," Browning added. "This agreement reflects close cooperation and countless hours of discussion not only with FDA, but with our trade partners here and around the world. It also supports our twin goals of securing the border from terrorists and terrorist weapons while ensuring the movement of legitimate trade."

Building on a long history of close FDA-CBP cooperation, the agreement includes steps to enhance the two agencies' teamwork in training, day-to-day operations, and information sharing. Under the agreement, the FDA can commission all the CBP officers the two agencies consider necessary to enforce new food safety and security regulations. The FDA and CBP will provide specialized training for the commissioned CBP employees who will carry out this work, and both agencies will expand their existing cooperative arrangements to directly share information affecting the safety and security of imported foods.

The FDA and CBP have issued a compliance policy guide that describes their strategy for maintaining an uninterrupted flow of food imports while improving their safety. The policy guide deals with the enforcement of two regulations based on provisions of the Bioterrorism Act. These regulations require:

advance notice to the FDA of shipments of foods imported or offered for import into the United States, and
registration with the FDA of domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold food for consumption in the United States.

Both regulations took effect on Dec. 12, 2003. These new requirements have a phase-in period, ending on Aug. 12, 2004, for companies to make a "good faith" effort at complying with the new rules. During the phase-in period, the FDA and CBP will primarily rely on educating firms and individuals. After the phase-in period of education, CBP will begin to impose civil monetary penalties, and ultimately the FDA and CBP will refuse shipments. Both agencies will continue to ensure that imported products are safe for human or animal consumption throughout the phase-in period.

"Our intention all along has been to implement the Bioterrorism Act in a way that would protect consumers without obstructing the food imports on which we depend for 20 percent of all fresh produce and up to 60 percent of all the seafood consumed in the United States," said McClellan. "The goal of the transition policy is to provide complete clarity and education about the new import requirements, and achieve a higher level of U.S. food security without disrupting trade."

"We at the CBP for decades have worked closely with the FDA in ensuring the safety and security of imported foods, especially perishables, that reach our dinner tables every day," CBP Commissioner Robert C. Bonner said. "The Bioterrorism Act provides us with yet another highly effective tool to safeguard America's food supply from the terrorist threat."

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