International Trade and Customs

Contact: Susan Kohn Ross; Mitchell Silberg & Knupp LLP (Los Angeles, California, USA)

In Mitchell Silberg & Knupp's August 6, 2013 Alert, they mentioned the two proposals the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued on July 26, 2013 and further implement the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the first dealing with the Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) and the second dealing with third-party auditors. Click to view the August 2013 FSVP Alert. In this edition, the firm addresses the FDA’s third-party auditor proposal, which is intended to regulate accreditation/certification bodies and third-party auditors. While the auditor proposal has less direct impact on food importers, it may nonetheless play a significant role in how companies evaluate their current and future business partners and also how they structure their future deals. Following a summary of the key provisions, questions that the FDA’s current proposal seems to overlook will be raised.

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