Renewal of FDA Facility Registration Begins October 1st

This message is to notify you that effective October 1, 2022, the FDA will launch its portal where food facilities will be required to renew their food facility registrations. The window for renewal will be open from October 1 until December 31. It is recommended that all importers renew early to avoid any disruption to shipments. All food facilities located in your supply chain are required by the FDA to submit a timely renewal. Failure to submit a timely renewal will cause your goods to be denied entry into the U.S.

Situation

During this renewal period and moving forward, the FDA is requiring all registrants to have a valid DUNS number associated with the physical location of their food facility. Please be advised that the FDA has issued specific guidance advising that a DUNS number for the corporate headquarters is not sufficient. The FDA has made it clear that it will no longer accept the use of “pending” in lieu of a valid DUNS number. The DUNS number application can be found here.

The FDA is requiring that the contact information on the FDA food facility registration exactly match the DUNS number contact information. Registration will be cancelled for registrants where a direct match does not occur. For example, if the FDA registration identifies “ABC Manufacturing” at “123 Main Street,” while the DUNS number info is listed as “ABC Manufacturing LLC” at 123 Main St.,” the registration will be denied. The two strings must be an exact match to every character.

Recommendation

To prepare for this upcoming renewal, you are strongly encouraged to communicate with food facilities in your supply chain, including the manufacturer or grower, the consolidator, the shipper, and the Ultimate Consignee (“deliver to” party), and inform them of the following:

• The U.S. FDA Food Facility Registration renewal period is from October 1 to December 31. Instructions and the portal are here.
• A DUNS number associated with the physical location of the food facility must be provided during renewal. FDA will no longer offer flexibility. Without a valid DUNS number, the imported food shipment will not be allowed to enter the U.S. The DUNS number can be obtained here.
• The name and contact information on the FDA food facility registration must exactly match the DUNS number contact information. If not, the registration will be rejected. For example, if the FDA registration identifies “ABC Manufacturing” at “123 Main Street,” while the DUNS number info is listed as “ABC Manufacturing LLC” at 123 Main St.,” the registration will be denied. The two must be an exact match to every character.

Questions?

For any questions regarding these upcoming changes please contact the Maersk Customs Services Trade Compliance team in North America at compliance.mcsi.nam@maersk.com.