The FDA Blacklist -Are your goods on Import Alert?
FDA just issue the following items in the last two weeks on their import alerts section on its website. Do you have any of them, importers, brokers, or freight forwarders?
- shrimp from Bangladesh and India
- drugs from Australia, Canada, China, Curacao, Greece, Mexico, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom
- raisins from Yemen
- guinea pig meat from Peru
- papaya from Mexico
- cilantro from Mexico
It is not uncommon for importers to have items be examed by the FDA department, BUT What if knowing that the goods you're used to ordering - ones that potentially significant to your business - could be automatically refused entry to the United States because they've suddenly been blacklisted?
This is no joke or inside secret. FDA keeps a detailed blacklist on their website. Anyone who’s seen items of theirs suddenly shows up on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Import Alert list certainly knows the feeling.
Where can I find the FDA Black List (Import Alert)
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/default.html
You may search import alerts news by country/area, industry, or import alert number if you know or most recent published date. Filter the certain criteria will help you navigate the import alert news as there are so many, there are literally so many import alert news
Once the agency has collected enough evidence to make a case against an item or company in question, either one can become subject to Detention Without Physical Examination (DWPE), meaning its product will be turned away automatically at the border before an inspection would take place.
Red, Green, and Yellow List
Red List: products would automatically be rejected and detained by FDA agency. Well it is not the end of the world .there is a period of 90 days in which to provide evidence to overturn its refusal for entry. It takes time and money but you still have a chance within 90 days to get it released
if you are a new importer, rather say no to the red list manufactures to avoid this kind of risk!
Green List: Green is the best color. Your product is not subject to DWPE. FDA grant exception status to this company that safe to be imported! For example, if there’s an Asia-wide ban on raw shrimp, but a company in Japan successfully proves that the violation doesn’t apply to its products, it could get green-listed.
yellow List: in between red list and Green list. they are under " intensified surveillance: and will continue to be until FDA gathers more evidence to decide they shall belong to the green or red list. Usually, they would either ask for documentation review.
It is not easy to petition the goods to ask for removal from the red list, so I would strongly recommend food imports to always check the import alert website periodically to avoid the risk.