By Claude Mills, Staff ReporterJAMAICAN EXPORTERS have been given an additional four months beyond the December 12 deadline to learn the procedures and intricacies of the regulations governing the United States (U.S.) Bioterrorism Act.
During the period, Jamaican goods will be allowed into the U.S., but exporters have to be registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said a U.S. official speaking from Kingston yesterday.
NEW REGULATION TO ENSURE SAFETY
The new export regulations form part of the continuing efforts of the U.S. government to ensure the safety and security of food supply in the U.S., in light of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington two years ago.
The extension is "to allow everyone to learn what they have to do. During the period, the U.S. will not deny access. You still have to be registered but we will let the product through as long as it doesn't contain harmful contaminants," said Mr. David Salmon, agricultural counsellor at the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo as he delivered an overview of the principles of the act.
FDA NOTIFICATION
"The same situation will apply to notification, but after April 12, nothing will be allowed to come through if the proper requirements haven't been fulfilled," Mr. Salmon said.
Notification refers to the Food and Drug Administration's requirement of prior notice before food is imported or offered for import into the United States.
The FDA must be notified by noon of the calendar day before the imported food arrives at the U.S. border crossing or at the port of entry. The proposed rule would require the prior notice to be submitted electronically through an FDA Internet-based system that would be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The compliance regulations are fairly intricate, requiring sound knowledge of the new laws and often expert advice in order not to contravene them.
Mr. Salmon warned exporters to be wary of "companies which are offering themselves as go-betweens in the new process."
"There are a lot of companies charging high fees who might be seeking to take advantage of your ignorance, so educate and inform yourselves of the requirements," he told participants at a seminar on the Act, hosted by the Jamaica Bureau of Standards.
Dozens of people had to be turned away from the bio-terrorism seminar held in the JBS training room on Winchester Road.
"The information is getting out Jampro and the Bureau of Standards are playing their roles well. I've done several radio interviews, and even this seminar seems to be highly successful, people have showed up, and it is actually a good thing that there was so much interest that people had to be turned away," he told The Gleaner, yesterday.
BIO-TERRORISM REGUALTIONS EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 12
The local business community is seeking to become ready for the impending United States regulations against bio-terrorism, which becomes effective on December 12, 2003.
Under the 'Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002' (the Bioterrorism Act) which was passed late last year, Jamaican exporters will have to meet specific requirements to protect the safety of food entering the U.S.
Sub-sections of the Act require registration of food facilities by their owners, operator or the agent in charge of a domestic or foreign facility as well as the U.S. agent, while purchasers or importers of an article of food (or their agent) are required to provide prior notice of importers food shipment.
Jampro has reported that several local companies have been registering with the Food and Drug Administration ahead of the December 12 deadline.
Failure of local facilities to register with the FDA or to ensure that their U.S. importers have the necessary information to submit the prior notice required, can incur huge financial losses, resulting from holding and freight charges, destruction of products, or re-export of products to the point of shipment.
In anticipation of the new regulations a task force of several agencies has been working to prepare and sensitise the relevant firms on the need to comply with the new regulations.
"Things are going well, Jamaicans are registering under the new process, and there is a facility that deals with persons who have never exported before. The only problem I foresee is if you have a shipment which is due to arrive on December 15, and which was shipped on December 15, and you hadn't bothered to register," Mr. Gladstone Rose, manager of the Standardisation and Certification Division of the Bureau, said.
