TT exporters in dark over US Bio-terrorism Act

When the Food and Drug (FDA) Administration in the US announced its plans to regulate the importation of foreign food and drink entering the country, TT exporters had to undergo a crash course in bio-terrorism to protect themselves and their products.

According to Samaroo Dowlath, CEO of Namdevco, many of the exporters were left in the dark, since the representatives from the USDA were not equipped to answer them. “It went quite well. The target audience was present, which was something we hoped for. But we were disappointed not to have FDA presence there. The information given was useful to the exporters, though and now we need to continue the sensitisation process,” said Dowlath. All exporters will be asked to complete a registration process with the FDA by December 12, 2003.  On this date, the Public Health Security and Bio-terrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, will come into force and will provide the FDA with the authority to protect the US food supply against terrorist acts and other threats. Speaking at the seminar at the Hilton Trinidad, director of the USDA Caribbean Basin, Margie Bauer said every company exporting food or drink items into the US must register the products and the company in order to gain access to the US market from December, 12. “Companies can register themselves online or through their US agent. But the agent must be residing in the US,” said Bauer. The Act will allow the FDA to regulate over 400,000 domestic and foreign facilities that deal with food in the US.

The registration process is extremely tedious for exporters and is still separate from the customs regulations. According to Bauer, this will soon change, since they are working to merge the two systems to improve efficiency. Until then however, TT exporters find themselves swallowed in rules and deadlines in order to have their products on US supermarket shelves. Under FDA jurisdiction, the list of food items is lengthy. It includes food and food additives, dietary supplements and ingredients, infant formula, beverages (including water), fruits and vegetables, fish and seafood, dairy products and shell eggs, canned foods, live food animals and bakery goods, snacks and candy. All facilities must be registered, said Bauer. It is prohibited to not register a facility if you are exporting to the US. Exporters are also obligated to give prior notice, which is to reach the port of entry 2 hours before the actual goods. This is in addition to the notice requested by customs. “Port of entry for customs means the final destination for the goods, but for the FDA it means the port in which the goods enter the US,” said Bauer. The FDA anticipates that an average of 20,000 prior notices for imports in to the US will be submitted daily. If prior notice is not given, goods will be detained in storage until the application is filled out, warned Bauer. TT exporters were also informed of the administrative detention aspect of the Act.

The Act authorises the FDA to detain a product which may pose a threat of “serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals”. According to the Act, the detention period cannot exceed 30 days. In order for the product to be released the exporter must file an appeal within two days of the detention if the item is perishable. For non-perishable items, the exporter has four days. A ruling by the FDA will be issued within 10 days. Exporters will also be required to establish and maintain records as part of the Act. Records must be maintained for no longer than two years as long as the exporters manufactures, process, pack, transport, distribute food to the US. According to the Act, this is needed for inspection to allow the FDA to identify the source of the food and packaging in case it is classified as a health risk. But while this may be understandable for the FDA, in light of risks resulting from the September 11 terrorist attacks, it still causes concern for local exporters, said Dowlath. “People are not sure what is going to happen, especially with the detentions. This is a cause for major concern. The exporter has to leave goods in the hands of the shipping agents and this will cause anxiousness. We could not get a clear answer as to what this will mean for the exporting company from the USDA representatives,” said Dowlath. Exporters were also unsure of the penalties if their goods were deemed harmful. While the representatives from the USDA said the goods would be held in detention, they could not say whether or not the goods would be prohibited from entering the country in the future.