The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) plays a large role in global food safety, and the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) rule is something every U.S. importer needs to be aware of, since compliance to FSVP begins May 2017. Let’s review how to help your suppliers be ready.
To help meet FSVP compliance, the importer needs to:
- Develop a written hazard analysis for each type of food being imported to determine whether there are any hazards requiring a control.
- Determine the foreign supplier’s compliance history with food safety regulations, to include those of country of origin, other “ship to” countries, and FDA. The compliance history should include results, corrective actions, and verification of those actions.
- Assess the applicability of other food safety factors such as storage and transportation practices.
- Approve or disapprove the supplier based on the verified activities.
The importer also will have to develop, implement, manage, and document certain verification activities designed to meet the requirements of the rule.
More about what’s needed when working with food importers can be found in the original blog HERE.
