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How do I send a Food Shipment to the United States?

The events of Sept. 11, 2001, reinforced the need to enhance the security of the United States. The Congress passed the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (the Bioterrorism Act), which requires additional steps to comply with the regulations which have been put into force. Completion of these requirements ensures that the shipment will clear both the Food & Drug Administration and Customs.

A shipper sending a food article to the U.S. must provide a “Prior Notice” to the Food and Drug administration (FDA) four (4) hours prior to the landing of the goods into the USA. This prior notice can be accomplished by going to the following web site:
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~pn/pnoview.html

By clicking on the How to Submit a Prior Notice through FDA’s Prior Notice System Interface (PNSI) login on the right hand side of the web page you can submit this information.

Upon completion of this, the web site will give you a “Prior Notice Number” (PN#). It will also provide you with a confirmation report. You must place the PN# on the FedEx Express Air Waybill (AWB) in the description section and completely describe the food item.

A Commercial Invoice must also contain this information and a copy of the PN Confirmation sheet must also be included in the paperwork.

As with all regulations there are exceptions.

Exceptions:

A person sending homemade food articles from their home to a person’s home in the USA does not require Prior Notice. The address on the AWB must be person to person, no company name is allowed.

Note: Please ensure that the description on the AWB contains “Home Made” in the description section, Ex. “Food- Home Made food, gift”.

A person sending a purchased food article to a person in the USA must provide the Manufacturers Name and Address located on the food item box. Prior Notice must be sent on this type of article. The shipper does not require registration however, the manufacturer must be registered.

EX: “Food - Gift Basket PN#123456789012”.