Who is the FSVP Importer?

FSVP defines the Importer as, “The U.S. owner or consignee of an article of food that is being offered for import into the United States.” Additionally, the U.S. owner or consignee is further defined as the party in the United States that, at the time of U.S. entry, either owns the food, has purchased the food, or has agreed in writing to purchase the food.

This definition creates the possibility that there could be two parties eligible to be defined as the importer. For example, one US based party may own the food at the time of U.S. entry, and another could have already agreed in writing to purchase the food. Or, US Party A may have agreed in writing to purchase the food from CAN Party B, and US Party C may have already agreed in writing to purchase the food from US Party A. In such instances, we believe it is up to those parties to decide which will be considered the Importer for FSVP purposes. We expect that this will be addressed contractually in the future as FSVP matures.

Additionally, in the Federal Register Comment/Response regarding the FSVP importer, the intent of their importer definition is to identify the party that “is most likely to have knowledge of food safety practices and knowledge and control over the supply chain of an imported food.”

If there is no U.S. owner at the time of U.S. entry, then the importer is the U.S. agent or representative of the foreign owner or consignee. This relationship must be confirmed in a signed statement of consent.

The FDA expects the need for a U.S. agent or representative to be rare. Situations might be where a foreign owner of grain is shipping to a 3rd party warehouse within the U.S. and the grain will be sold at a later date. As there is no U.S. party which has ownership of the food, a U.S. agent or representative would be required.