The Food Safety Modernization Act requires U.S. and foreign food facilities to renew their registration with the Food and Drug Administration every even-numbered year between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 to indicate the types of foods produced or held at each facility. New this year to the registration process is the requirement for companies to identify the type of activity conducted at the facilities for each food product category.

The Food and Drug Administration uses this information, when necessary, to provide quick and targeted responses 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.

Members with questions may contact Emily Lyons, IDFA director of regulatory affairs and counsel, at elyons@idfa.org.

Guidance Available
FDA has several guidance documents available to help food facilities with the registration renewal process.

• The Guidance for Industry: What You Need to Know About the Registration of Food Facilities – Small Entity Compliance Guide was updated in 2014 to reflect changes to the food facility registration requirements. 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 (Sixth Edition) was updated in 2014 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.