Brokers broadsided by proposed FDA registration

Brokers broadsided by proposed FDA registration

Muoio

   U.S. customs brokers say they were broadsided by proposed legislative provisions in the 2009 Food Safety Enhancement Act that would require them to be registered along with importers in an effort to strengthen the Food and Drug Administration's oversight of the nation's food supply.
   'These provisions surfaced only last week, were preceded by no consultation with our industry and, we are told, may go to subcommittee mark-up next week,' said Mary Jo Muoio, president of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, in a letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman on Thursday.
   Muoio noted to the chairman that 'the committee's draft treats customs brokers as if they are importers.'
   She further added that the committee ignored existing regulatory and licensing requirements already long in place for the customs broker industry. The draft legislation 'attempts to erect a duplicate regulatory framework that distorts the role of the broker,' she said.

Waxman

   Under the proposal, the NCBFAA said the customs broker, like the importer, is subject to fees and a mandatory registration that the Health and Human Services Department can suspend or cancel for an 'inaccurate or incomplete statement or submission of information relating to the importation of food, drugs, or devices.' In addition, the measure would subject the broker to a civil penalty of up to $500,000.
   'Lost in this provision is the fact that a customs broker must rely on the commercial documents and other information supplied by his client, the U.S. importer,' Muoio said. 'And yet the committee's draft holds the customs broker strictly liable for the importer-supplied information ' with truly debilitating fines and consequences if the information turns out to be inaccurate in any respect.'
   The FDA has responsibility for nearly 80 percent of the food supply. Imported foods account for about 13 percent of the average U.S. consumer's annual diet, according to the Safe Food Coalition.
   Congress is under extreme public pressure to respond to recent food borne illnesses by increasing the FDA's ability to monitor and better control the wholesomeness of imported foods. A Food Industry Center poll found that the percentage of consumers satisfied with the safety of the food supply fell to 22.5 percent earlier this year.
   'Our committee is in the middle of a busy three month period. Last month we passed comprehensive energy and climate change legislation. Soon we will take up health care reform,' Waxman said during a Wednesday hearing to review the draft food safety bill. 'But food safety is so critical that I've carved out time to pass this legislation.
   'Over the next few weeks, I intend to work with all our committee members, Democratic and Republican, with the FDA; and with affected industries, to achieve consensus on a food safety bill that we can pass out of committee. We can't afford to wait any longer.'