The Food Safety Modernization Act requires U.S. food facilities to register every even-numbered year between October 1 and December 31 to indicate the types of foods produced or held at each facility. Companies also are required to provide updated contact information and an assurance that they will permit inspections by the Food and Drug Administration.
FDA plans to use this information, when necessary, to provide a quick and targeted response to food-related emergencies stemming from accidental or intentional contamination or adulteration. IDFA encourages members to register early to avoid any system issues due to a last-minute registration rush.
Steps to Register
- Access the system using your account ID and password to review and edit facility information. If you have an account ID but forgot the password, reset it online by answering your secret question. Note: the account ID is not the same as registration number.
- If you do not know your account ID, contact FDA's Unified Registration and Listing Systems (FURLS) help desk at (800) 216-7331 or (301) 575-0156 between 7:30 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. Eastern time.
- If you edited your facility profile before October 1, you still must update it between October 1 and December 31, 2014. All previously submitted information will remain.
Members with questions may contact Emily Lyons, vice president of regulatory affairs and counsel for IDFA, at elyons@idfa.org.
Guidance Documents Available
Three guidance documents are available from FDA to help with the registration process. They supersede previously released versions.
- The Guidance for Industry: What You Need to Know About the Registration of Food Facilities – Small Entity Compliance Guide was updated in 2012 to reflect FSMA amendments to the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). It contains information regarding who must register and who may be exempt, how often facilities must register and renew registrations, when FDA may suspend a registration and how facilities may submit their registrations and registration renewals to FDA.
- The Guidance for Industry: Questions and Answers Regarding Food Facility Registration (Fifth Edition) was updated in 2012 and contains helpful questions and answers regarding food facility registration. Updates to questions in this edition are based on FSMA amendments.
- The Guidance for Industry: Necessity of the Use of Food Product Categories in Food Facility Registration contains information regarding food-product categories included in the food facility registration form.