The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the application period for importers to submit their notice of intent to participate in the Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP) for the Fiscal Year 2020 benefits period has been extended to July 31, 2019. (In a previous blog, we noted that the VQIP application portal opened on October 1, 2018, for the FY 2020 benefit period.) Established by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), VQIP is a fee-based program that provides expedited review of human and animal foods imported into the United States.

To participate in the VQIP, importers must meet eligibility criteria. This includes ensuring that the foreign supplier’s facilities are certified by a recognized certification body that has been accredited through FDA’s Accredited Third-Party Certification Program. (For more information on FDA’s Accredited Third-Party Certification Program, see our previous blogs here and here.) As of May 1, 2019, four third-party certifications bodies have received accreditation.