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Foreign Supplier Verification Program

How does a foreign company register for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration certificate and what are the required documents?

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf announced a proposed change in the Agency’s structure to create the FDA Human Foods Program.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued final guidance on ways to prepare, plan, and work with the Agency to ensure that voluntary recalls are initiated properly and in a timely manner. On March 4, 2022, FDA published a notice regarding the Agency’s issuance of Final Guidance on Initiation of Voluntary Recalls Under 21 CFR Part 7, Subpart C. The guidance applies to voluntary recalls of all FDA-regulated products.

A South Korean study published on June 25, 2021 in Food and Chemical Toxicology reported the results of overall and specific migration testing of various food contact plastic materials using food simulants. The data indicate that the minimal migration of evaluated substances from plastic food packaging and their corresponding dietary concentrations pose no significant human health or safety concerns.

Acting U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Janet Woodcock and Acting U.S.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Food and Drug Administrator Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D, reiterated on June 24 that, “There is no evidence that people can contract COVID-19 from food or from food packaging.” The declaration was part of a joint statement made in response to food export restrictions pertaining to COVID-19.

A novel data analysis was used to show a non-monotonic dose relationship between exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) and mammary gland development. The study, which was part of the Consortium Linking Academic and Regulatory Insights on BPA Toxicity (CLARITY-BPA) project, was conducted by researchers from Tufts University and National Toxicology Program (NTP) laboratory.

San Francisco and several other Bay Area jurisdictions have temporally banned reusable bags as part of an updated shelter in place order.  By way of background, on March 16, 2020, the City and County of San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Marin Counties, and the City of Berkeley issued parallel orders imposing shelter in place requirements in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The seven jurisdictions then issued updated versions of the order on March 31, which extended the shelter in place requirements to May 3.

In an information sheet published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on April 16, the Agency informed consumers that “… there is no evidence of food packaging being associated with the transmission of COVID-19.” FDA added that consumers could wipe down grocery packaging materials but that would just act as an extra precaution.

Prior to the spread of the coronavirus and COVID-19, a number of jurisdictions announced single-use plastic bag bans (see the Packaginglaw.com article, More states Ban Single-Use Plastic Bags, for more information). Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the health implications of these bans are being questioned.