What is FDA prior notice for imported food?

It's a notice, sent for each shipment, that food for people or animals is on its way. It covers almost all imported food: goods for sale, gifts, trade samples, food passing through to another country, and food going into a Foreign Trade Zone.

It depends on how the food travels, as the table above shows. Say you ship a pallet of snacks by sea: FDA has to confirm the notice at least 8 hours before the ship reaches the port.

Two things trip people up. The clock starts when FDA confirms the notice, not when you send it. And it can't go in too early: no more than 30 days ahead through a broker's system, or 15 days on FDA's web entry. Food sent by international mail needs its notice before it's mailed.

Anyone who knows the details can send it. On a normal commercial import, the customs broker usually sends it through CBP's system (ABI/ACE) along with the entry. A broker or a filing agent can send it for you, or you can use FDA's free web entry yourself. Either way, FDA gets the same information and sends back the same confirmation number.

There's no paper form. What people call the prior notice form is FDA's web entry, the Prior Notice System Interface (PNSI). It runs on an FDA Industry Systems account, asks for the same details a broker would send, and gives you a confirmation number when the notice is accepted.

The web entry is also the way in for food sent by international mail, for in-bond and Foreign Trade Zone shipments, and for times when CBP's system is down. FDA publishes a user guide and a short video for it.

A fixed list, not free text: who is sending it; the entry type and number; the food, with its FDA product code, name, quantity and lot numbers; who made it, and who grew it if it's fresh from the farm; the country it was made in and the country it ships from; the shipper; the port, date and time of arrival; the importer, owner and final consignee; the carrier; and any country that refused it.

If a detail is missing, FDA won't confirm the notice, and an unconfirmed notice doesn't count.

It's FDA's receipt. It means the notice is complete enough to review, not that FDA approved the food or cleared the shipment. If you used the web entry, the number travels with the food; a parcel sent by international mail has to show it.

The food can be refused and held at the port. A notice that comes too late for how the food travels, or is never confirmed because a detail is missing, counts the same as no notice. Importing food without it is against the law.

Food you carry in for your own use; homemade food sent as a personal gift; food that is exported again without leaving the port; meat, poultry and egg products that USDA handles at import; and diplomatic bags.