The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is increasingly stopping and examining imported shipments of food attempting to enter the United States. Often, the FDA does not allow the food to enter the United States by declaring it to be misbranded or adulterated by filth or decomposition. Virtually always, refused food is then either destroyed or exported from the United States. There is a little known, but valuable, option called "reconditioning".
Once reconditioned, food that was originally rejected by the FDA may legally enter the commerce of the United States. How, when, and why to recondition food is the subject of a webinar on May 25, 2011, sponsored by the Journal of Commerce, and presented by attorney Peter Quinter and FDA manager John Verbeten.
John Verbeten is the Director of Operations and Policy Branch, Division of Import Operations and Policy, at FDA Headquarters. The discussion will cover detention without physical examination (DWPE), the Food Safety Modernization Act, the FDA Regulatory Procedures Manual, and the practical use of FDA Form 766.
Registration for the webinar is done on-line at the Journal of Commerce website.
Separately, a seminar for importers, customs brokers, and other persons involved in international trade is taking place in Tampa, Florida, on June 1, 2011. This will be a practical "how to" regarding the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, FDA’s Detention Without Physical Examination (DWPE) and Notice of Refusal procedures, FDA Import Alerts, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection issuance of Liquidated Damages for failure to redelivery FDA refused merchandise.
