Managing Your Logistics With Food Products

By Chris Channing

Businesses that deal with food, or are planning to deal with food in the United States, will almost always require a third party logistics company to simplify their business model. Interacting with trade and the FDA alone is enough to frustrate and confuse a business- which would otherwise lead to their downfall.

You yourself and all of the people you ship goods to must be registered with the FDA. This is quite the hassle, but necessary if the FDA is going to track a product if it should be recalled. Before doing business with a partner, your third party logistics company should have already scouted out their credentials and assuredly proven that they are safe to work with as far as the FDA is concerned.

One step that is often overlooked is verifying the address of any businesses that you are planning to work with. In making sure that the business address matches the one with the address on file with the FDA, you not only avoid trouble yourself but avoid the FDA looking into the case more and delaying your shipments. This can save both time and money.

There is a seven-character code that is put on every product that you export or import. This code is what we call the FDA product code, and it tells the FDA and shipment businesses what exactly they are carrying. It may outline the product, group code, industry code, and several other bits of information key in directing where the shipment should go.

One must also follow the Bio-terrorism Act, more specifically Title III. This act specifies that anyone importing foods into the US must adhere to certain rules. For instance, advance notification must be given to the FDA before a shipment arrives. Logistics companies should also keep substantial records on the food and where it is going to appease the title.

Even with this much discussed, there is a boat-load of information to consider when dealing with food and transportation. As you can see, outsourcing this headache to a third party logistics company is a great idea. Logistics companies will not only handle your burden, but also be responsible should anything go wrong. Third party logistics services will also be able to give you the documentation you need of the process to adhere to current laws.

Final Thoughts

The United States is continually pushing out legislation to keep its residents safe from bad food products. This is great for consumers, and necessary, but can make businesses bend over backwards so that they can appease such requests. If you would like to work in the food industry, do be sure of the fact that there will be plenty of laws and regulations to abide by. - 23218

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