CBP "Alert" on FDA Interface's Inability to Accept Foreign-Based Consignees
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an ABI administrative message stating that a foreign-based consignee should not be sent in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) interface.
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CBP indicates that the FDA Interface does not accept a foreign-based consignee even though it may pass ABI edits.
Sending a foreign-based consignee in the FDA interface has caused serious problems since the beginning of the interface in October 1992. Several administrative messages have been issued over the years warning filers of serious delays caused by sending a foreign consignee, but they are still being sent, causing filers many hours, if not days, of extra work to correct the problem.
CBP notes that the problem has become even more acute since the FDA Prior Notice requirement for imported food was implemented, causing delays in obtaining Prior Notice confirmation numbers, and in regular FDA processing.
Sending a Foreign-Based Consignee Will have Serious Consequences When Prior Notice Moves to the Final Phase of Full Enforcement
CBP warns that when Prior Notice moves to the final phase of full enforcement, shipments that have a foreign-based consignee will not be released by FDA at the point of arrival. According to CBP, this will have serious consequences for filers and importers, and the solution is to not send a foreign-based consignee in the FDA interface.
CBP states that this message needs to go to every employee in every filer's office who prepares FDA interface entries, and to exporters and importers.
U.S. Consignee Number Needed, with a U.S. Address
According to CBP, all parties may need to change their business practices in order to obtain a U.S. consignee number, and the consignee number must have a U.S. address.
(CBP states that a more cumbersome, and not recommended, method of avoiding a FDA reject is to obtain a Food and Drug Establishment Number (FEI Number) through ABI before the entry is sent and including it in the FDA data, if a U.S. consignee number can absolutely not be obtained. CBP notes that the "Other government agencies query" section of the CATAIR (OGQ-6) should be consulted.)
(See ITT's Online Archives or 02/27/04 news, 04022720, for BP summary of CBP's reissuance of a 1999 notice on automatic FDA interface rejects for foreign-based consignees, etc. See ITT's Online Archives or 03/09/04 news, 04030910, for BP summary of CBP's correction of a related ABI reject problem, including a reminder that a foreign consignee should never be sent in any FDA interface transaction.)
- CBP states that questions should be referred to assigned client representatives.
CBP Adm: 04-0577 (dated 03/23/04) available via fax or email by emailing documents@brokerpower.com