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FDA Removed over 20% of Food Facility Registrations from its Database

In February 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed 47,635 food facilities from its database, resulting in over a 20% decrease in registrations. This was likely caused by facilities failing to properly renew their registrations before the December 2018 renewal deadline. FDA removes all facilities that did not renew shortly after each renewal period. As of February 7, 2019, 186,016 food facilities remained in FDA’s database compared to the 233,651 registered in December 2018. To see the registration totals broken down by country, click here.

What is Registration Renewal?

Under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), food facilities are required to renew their FDA registrations between October 1 and December 31 of each even-numbered year. The date on which the initial registration was submitted is inconsequential to the renewal requirement. If a facility registers the day prior to the FDA renewal period (October 1), they are still subject to registration renewal.

FDA considers registrations that are not renewed by the deadline to be “expired”. Facilities with expired registrations must re-register with FDA and obtain a new registration number, prior to continuing manufacturing, processing, packing, or storing food for U.S. consumption.

Distributing food in the United States with an expired registration is prohibited and may subject a facility’s owner to civil or criminal penalties. Many facilities do not realize their registrations are expired until their shipments are detained by FDA Compliance Officers at the U.S. Port of Entry. To avoid costly detentions or regulatory action, it is prudent all food facilities verify their registrations were properly renewed for 2019.

If your registration is expired, Registrar Corp specializes in FDA regulatory compliance and can properly re-register  your facility.  As part of our registration service, companies receive year-round regulatory support, including FDA compliance monitoring of their facility, detention assistance, and more. For more information, contact Registrar Corp at +1-757-224-0177 or chat with a Regulatory Advisor 24-hours a day at regstaging.wpengine.com/livehelp.