On January 10, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its final guidance for the Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) for Importers of Food for Humans and Animals.

Part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), FSVP establishes risk-based foreign supplier verification activities that importers of human and animal foods must follow to ensure their imports are not adulterated or misbranded and are produced in compliance with section 418 or 419 of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act, as appropriate. The intent of FSVP is to hold importers accountable for verifying foreign suppliers are meeting U.S. food safety standards.

The new industry guidance document provides information to help importers comply with the FSVP regulation. It offers clarification on what foods/entities the FSVP regulation applies to, what information must be included in the FSVP, and who must develop and perform FSVP activities. It also includes recommendations on the requirements to:

• Analyze the hazards in food.
• Evaluate a potential foreign supplier’s performance and the risk posed by the food.
• Determine and conduct appropriate foreign supplier verification activities.
• Meet modified FSVP requirements in a variety of categories, such as requirements for importers of dietary supplements or very small importers.

The final guidance document is available online.