Currently, New Zealand, Canada and most recently Australia are the only countries that have signed Systems Recognition arrangements with FDA. For the purposes of importers availing themselves of the modified FSVP requirements for foods from these countries, the importer must document that the foreign supplier is in, and under the regulatory oversight of, a country whose food safety system FDA has officially recognized as comparable or determined to be equivalent to that of the United States, and that the food is within the scope of that official recognition or equivalency determination. For clarification, FDA’s Systems Recognition program is not the same as equivalence. The term “equivalence” is used principally in the context of the international trading regime established under the World Trade Organization and in other free trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Systems recognition is voluntary and not required in order for a country to export foods to the U.S. The FDA continues to have inspection authority over food imported from any country with which it has an arrangement and can exercise this authority as needed. Imports from countries that have signed Systems Recognition arrangements with FDA must continue to comply with U.S. statutory and regulatory requirements to ensure safety and proper labeling, including the new standards adopted under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.
