5 replies to this topic

[Karen E]

Hi Everyone,

 

Can someone out there help me figure this out?  If a US food manufacturer purchases material from a US ingredient supplier that imports said material and further processes the material in the US, is the US food manufacturer subject to the FSVP rule?  

 

Thank you,

Karen Erickson

[The Food Scientist]

Whoever imports "the importer" is to follow FSVP. So in this case the US ingredient supplier who is importing into USA is the one responsible.

 

Who Is Covered by the FSVP Rule?

 

The FSVP importer is the U.S. owner or consignee of the food offered for import (i.e., owns the food, has purchased it, or has agreed in writing to purchase it at the time of U.S. entry). If there is no U.S. owner or consignee at time of entry, the FSVP importer is the U.S. agent/representative of the foreign owner/consignee, as confirmed in a signed statement of consent. The key is that there be a FSVP importer in the United States who takes responsibility for meeting the FSVP requirements.

[The Food Scientist]

Here's some good info if you would like:

 

https://fsvp.com/what-is-fsvp/

[Lynette1125]

Hi Karen,

 

So we actually just had an FDA auditor come into our facility to see if we were in compliance with FSVP as we import a few ingredients, but we process them as well with other material. He did not know this so he cancelled the audit and we are now awaiting an audit for FSMA, not FSVP because it did not apply to us. If you simply import those ingredient and just resell then most likely you fall under FSVP, but if you blend those ingredients then you do not fall under FSVP. That is my understanding after meeting up with the FDA employee. 

 

 

Hi Everyone,

 

Can someone out there help me figure this out?  If a US food manufacturer purchases material from a US ingredient supplier that imports said material and further processes the material in the US, is the US food manufacturer subject to the FSVP rule?  

 

Thank you,

Karen Erickson

[SQFconsultant]

We had an interesting exchange just this morning with a pass thru importer - they import a number of frozen fish specialties.

 

They tried to tell my client who they ship to right off the dock that he was responsible for FSVP.

 

Nope, it doesn't work that way - the foreign supplier must be in compliance and in turn that makes the importer responsible to my client prove that all docs are in place with full compliance etc.

 

They finally gave in.

[Bo16]

Yes the importer on record is responsible for the FSVP, but when approving them as your supplier it is still your responsibility to make sure they are following the regulations.  It is not a get out of jail card to say they are responsible, verify!