The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Voluntary Qualified
Importer Program (VQIP) is a voluntary program offered by FDA for
human and animal food importers that actively maintain a safe,
transparent, and regulatory compliant supply chain. The VQIP
application portal opened January 1, 2021, accepting importer
applications for fiscal year 2022 program benefits beginning
October 1, 2021, and will close May 31, 2021, at 11:59 pm EST.
Applications can be submitted online via the FDA Industry Systems
(FIS) webpage at https://www.access.fda.gov/.
Why register? The biggest benefit is expedited entry into the U.S.
Imported food products that are subject to inspection by FDA at
U.S. ports of entry. The provisions of the U.S. Federal Food, Drug
and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. Ch. 9 § 301 et seq), and more
recently the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), requires food
importers to be responsible for ensuring products intended for the
U.S. marketplace are produced and packaged in a safe and sanitary
manner to prevent contamination and foodborne illness. Food
shipments that are not in compliance with FDA regulations may be
detained. In most cases, shipments of food products that enter with
an approved importer VQIP designation will be immediately released
for entry. If testing or sampling is required, FDA will limit the
testing to only situations that are critical to public health, such
as a known outbreak of foodborne illness associated with the food
item or the foreign supplier. Avoiding entry delays benefits
importers by getting the product into the marketplace quicker, and
ultimately benefits consumers by facilitating access to food that
is sourced safely and responsibly.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
