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Nina Varghese
Raja Simhan T. E.

CHENNAI, March 27

EXPORTS of food products from the country to the US are likely to be hit when the proposed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations relating to food shipments and storage come into effect. Though India's share of the $50 billion US food import basket is just $1 billion, Washington's move is likely to affect the exporters adversely, sources said.

The proposed FDA regulation implements the Public Health Security and Bio-terrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (the Bio-terrorism Act), which requires prior notification of imported food to begin by December 12, 2003, according to a communication issued by FDA to trade across the world. This proposed regulation comes close on the heels of the 24-hour advance information to the US Customs for cargo entering the US.

Sources said due to the FDA regulation, perishable cargo originating from India was likely to be hit, as there were hardly any direct flights out of India to the US.

Most of the cargo is transhipped at a hub either in the Gulf or in Europe. The advance FDA notification required the flight information of the carrier, which transports the cargo into the US, and not the flight information from the country of origin, they said.

According to sources, providing such information will be next to impossible for Indian exporters, as the cargo would be transhipped at a mid point where there are a number of flights into the US. The cargo will also need to receive fresh approval 24 hours in advance from the mid point hub before it finally enters the US. The cargo would have perished by then, they said.

Exporters of perishables are yet to master the intricacies of the US Customs AAMS (advance automated manifest system) when the FDA has come out with this new proposal for all fresh, frozen or canned food products too, if not regulated by USDA (US Department of Agriculture).

This means that food products carriers and NVOCCS (also airfreight consolidators) need to send two AAMS messages for a shipment-containing foodstuff. The FDA regulation requires that the "purchaser, importer or their agent who resides or maintains a place of business in the US" would generally be responsible for submitting the notice to import.

According to available information, trade organisations within the US are not enthused about this proposed regulation. If the FDA proposal is enacted, then the AAMS may need to recognise consignments of food offered for carriage that have "passed" the FDA regulatory checks and can be imported into the US. Trade associations like the CAI Customs WG Group say this would be impractical, to state the obvious, to have to run two advanced information systems side by side, for instance, one for food and the other for general cargo.

The new rule would enhance FDA's ability to inspect imported food when it arrives in the US. This, in turn, would result in a "significant'' improvement in FDA's ability to deter, prepare for, and respond effectively to bio-terrorism and other public health emergencies that might result from imported food, says the FDA.

The proposed rule establishes four categories of imported food that are not subject to the prior notice requirements. The first category is food that individual travellers carry in their personal baggage for their own personal enjoyment.

The remaining three categories of imported food not subject to the prior notice requirement are those foods that come under the jurisdiction of the USDA, like the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act or the Egg Products Inspection Act.

The Bio-terrorism Act requires that the notification must provide the identity of the article, the identity of importer, manufacturer, shipper, and grower (if known), the originating country, the country from which the article was shipped, and the anticipated port of entry.

In addition, the notification must provide the identity of the person who submits the prior notice, the owner, the consignee, the carrier, the US Customs entry number, and anticipated time and date of arrival, and, if the food has been refused admission and required to be held, the location where it is held.

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