As part of the Federal government’s effort to protect the nation’s food supply against terrorist acts, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a proposed regulation that would require all manufacturers of food for U.S. consumption to register with the FDA. Importing Korean food products by Korean-American businesses is expected to become much more difficult.
The proposed regulation would require domestic and foreign food facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold food for human or animal consumption in the United States to register with the FDA by Dec. 12, 2003. Manufacturers in Korea that export food to the United States, and Korean-American food manufacturers are both subject to this regulation. Any food facilities that do not register with the FDA will be unable to import or distribute in the United States.
HHS and the FDA plan to issue a final rule after accepting comments on the proposed regulation until April 4, 2003. With up to $50 million in Korean-manufactured imports annually in the northeastern United States, this proposed regulation is expected to have a considerable impact on the Korean-American business community.
With the implementation of the proposed regulation, the FDA expects to register approximately 170,000 domestic food facilities, approximately 110,000 foreign food facilities and approximately 77,000 agents of foreign facilities.
In addition to the proposed regulation for registration of food facilities, the FDA also announced a proposed regulation that would require that the FDA receive notice before food is imported or offered for import in the United States.
The proposed rule does not apply to food carried in an individual’s personal baggage entering the U.S. for that individual’s personal use, or to meat, poultry or egg products that are exclusively regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) at the time of import. All other imported food, including beverages, would be subject to the prior notice requirements, whether or not the food is intended for consumption in the U.S.
Until now only a selection of import items were subject to this regulation, such as: canned products, beverages, food products including beef, such as instant noodle and soup products.
U.S. customs personnel anticipate that the proposed regulation will cause a great deal of confusion and have a negative effect among the many Korean-American food wholesale businesses during their import process.
These two proposed regulations are the implementation of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002. This act gives the FDA new authority in protecting the U.S. food supply against terrorist acts and other threats, especially after the events of September 11th. The FDA has the authority to exercise strict control over facilities and distribution of food products not in compliance with the proposed regulations or food product that poses a threat to public health. The violation of any import regulations or submitting fraudulent paperwork could result in criminal action.
The FDA is proposing to allow registration in electronic form, via the Internet. The FDA has researched which countries export food products to the United States. and their respective percentage of population with internet access. According to this research, 26 countries, including Korea, manufacture 80 percent of food imports to the United States. According to the FDA, Korea is the 10th largest supplier of food products with 2.95 percent, after China (9.05%), France (8.61%), Italy, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Great Britain, Germany, and Taiwan. In the percentage of population with internet access, Korea ranks eighth place with 46.40%, following Great Britain (59.88%), Hong Kong (59.58%), Netherlands (58.07%), Australia (54.38%), Canada (52.79%), Taiwan (51.85%) and Switzerland (46.82%).
