WESTERN Australian food exporters to the US are being warned they could face severe penalties under the third stage of implementation of the US Bioterrorism Act.
The enforcement phase, which runs from May 13 until August 12 2004, is the third stage of the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) eight-month implementation plan of the act that began last December.
Previous phases attracted fines. Penalties will been enforced under the new stage of implementation.
Austrade corporate manager Dee Wilkes-Bowes said that, in some cases, outright refusal of the food shipment could be imposed but in other cases the FDA would respond to violation by attempting to educate the shipper as to the exact requirements of the new law.
Ms Wilkes-Bowes said the US Bioterrorism Act would be strictly enforced from August 12 2004 and the majority of violations would then result in refusal of export shipments and/or possible monetary penalties.
The act will apply to all Australian exporters of food and animal feed products to the US with the exception of those Australian exporters who supply meat, poultry and egg products, which are under the exclusive responsibility of the US Food Safety and Inspection Service.