The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week announced the issuance of two guidance documents to help food facilities meet their registration requirements under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act. As a reminder to IDFA members, the 2018 biennial registration renewal period begins October 1 and concludes December 31.

One of the documents published is the seventh edition of the food facility registration guidance to help the owners and operators of food facilities understand the full requirements.
 
FDA also released a supplemental draft guidance, which includes questions and answers reflecting the agency’s current thinking about the registration requirements when multiple entities are involved in the use of shared physical space. These situations include when manufacturers lease their facility, store food at self-storage warehouses, or use commercial communal kitchens that are also used by other manufacturers to process food.

FDA is seeking stakeholder comment on this draft guidance and intends to incorporate the questions and answers, when finalized, into future editions of the food facility registration guidance.
 
These documents follow a small entity compliance guidance FDA released in May 2018, which is designed to help smaller facilities understand and meet their registration requirements under the FD&C Act.
 
To register or find more information about registration, owners and operators of facilities may visit the Registration of Food Facilities page at FDA.gov.

IDFA members may also contact John Allan, vice president of regulatory affairs and international standards, at jallan@idfa.org.