Bioterrorism Act Regulations (12/12/2003)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the food regulatory agency in the United States of America (USA), has been directed by legislation to take additional steps to protect the public from a threatened or actual terrorist attack. These regulations apply from 12th December 2003.

This legislation applies to all shippers, agents and forwarders who import foodstuffs into, or who tranship foodstuffs into or out of, the USA.

In order to implement certain provisions of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (the Bioterrorism Act), the FDA has established regulations, requiring that:

1. Registration
All facilities that hold food (as defined in the legislation) prior to arrival to the USA must register their premises with the FDA.

It is the responsibility of all shippers, agents and forwarders who hold and process or pack food items to register their premises with the FDA. Failure to comply with this requirement will mean that the food items will be refused entry at the port of arrival in the USA and held. All costs associated with the holding and eventual destruction of these goods will be met by the shipper/agent/forwarder.

2. Prior Notice
All shippers, agents, forwarders and importers of food to the USA (as defined in the legislation) must pre-notify the FDA of the arrival of those goods in line with the FDA requirement. The time frame for supplying this information for air freight is not more than 5 days and not less than 4 hours prior to the arrival of the shipment into the USA.

British Airways World Cargo will only accept goods which are 'ready for carriage'.

Prior notice (as outlined in the legislation) is the responsibility of the shipper/agent/forwarder. Failure to comply with the regulation means that the shipper/agent/forwarder will meet all the costs associated with the refusal of entry at the port of arrival in the USA. If customers are in any doubt as to whether their goods meet the criteria set out in the legislation, they should either download the appropriate page on the FDA website to check, or pre-notify the FDA as normal, as non-compliance is likely to be costly.

For further information, please visit the FDA website on http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fsbtact.html.