March 18, 2003	Tuesday	Muharram 14, 1424

KARACHI, March 17: Food products exporters will have to get themselves registered with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to meet newly adopted food safety measures by the US government.

According to a message received here by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the US administration has recently promulgated the Public Health Security and Bio-terrorism Preparedness and Response Act 2002.

Consequently, all Pakistani exporters of food products to the United States will have to be registered with the FDA latest by December 12, 2003. From that date exporters will have to provide advance notice to FDA of each shipment of foods into the US.

Under this law, all domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, process, pack, distribute, receive or hold food for consumption by humans and animals in the US will have to be registered with FDA.

The exporters will be also required to create and maintain records that FDA considers necessary to identify the immediate as well as previous sources and the immediate subsequent recipients of food.

The provision about prior notice of imported food shipments requires that US importers or purchasers, or their agents, give FDA prior notice of food imported or offered for import into the US no later than noon of the calendar day before the day the food arrives at the border crossing at the US port of entry.

The EPB has advised exporters of food products to the US to also make direct contact with their importers in the US to avoid any complications and difficulties that may arise in future while meeting the conditions of new law.