FDA aims to prevent port shopping by rejected food importers

The Food and Drug Administration recently proposed a regulation to help prevent port shopping among importers who have food shipments rejected by the federal agency in a U.S. port of entry.

This system will make it more difficult for food importers to evade import controls after being denied admission into the United States, said Randall Lutter, FDA's deputy commissioner for policy, in a statement.

When the FDA refuses to admit food into the United States, the food must be either exported or destroyed. However, some importers attempt to bring the refused food back into the United States in the same condition by shipping it to another U.S. port in hopes that the food will be admitted there.

The proposed regulation would require that shipping containers of food barred from entry, and any accompanying paperwork, such as the invoices, bills of lading, and electronic documents, be labeled UNITED STATES: REFUSED ENTRY in clear, conspicuous print, the FDA said.

The FDA said the proposed rule implements a provision of the 2002 Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act, which provided the agency with new authority to protect the nation's food supply.

Source: American Shipper