Could Impede Delivery of Concession Products
Anti-Terror Food Safety
Regulations Take Effect
by Jonathan Yarowsky
NATO Washington Counsel
Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11,
2001, the U.S. government has moved swiftly to combat a
variety of terrorist
threats, both abroad and at home. Congress has passed laws
to improve airport and transportation safety, create the
new Department of Homeland Security and increase funds
to support military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq
and Afghanistan. While much of the most recent attention
has focused on the U.S. commitment to a global strategy
to defeat terrorist acts, Congress has also taken action
to improve national, state, and local preparedness and
response planning.
President Bush signed the Bioterrorism Preparedness
and Response Act of 2002 (or “Bioterrorism Act”)
into law on June 12, 2002. This sweeping legislation will
impose significant new responsibilities on the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) and the industries regulated
by the agency. The Bioterrorism Act provides for increased
coordination throughout the federal government in response
to a bio-terrorist threat or public health emergency and
provides increased assistance to state and local governments
as first responders.
To carry out the provisions of the Bioterrorism
Act, the FDA published on Oct. 10, 2003, an interim final
regulation,
Registration Of Food Facilities, which would require domestic
and foreign facilities that manufacture, process, pack
or hold food for human or animal consumption in the United
States to register with the FDA by Dec. 12, 2003. Facility
registration information is intended to help the FDA determine
the location and source of bioterrorism incidents or an
outbreak of food-borne illness, and subsequently notify
facilities that may be affected. The FDA has called for
registrations to be done electronically since this mode
of registration is considered as the least costly and most
efficient means of supplying the FDA with the necessary
facility information as well as facilities with their registration
numbers.
These new regulations do not directly affect
theatre owners because retail food establishments that
sell food directly
to consumers for immediate consumption are not required
to register. Under Section 305 of the Bioterrorism Act,
restaurants are defined as “establishments that prepare
and sell food directly to consumers for immediate consumption” and
are specifically exempt from the provisions. Unless theatres
are acting as their own food importers, they are also exempt
from the requirement under Section 307 that prior notice
must be given to the FDA for the importation of all food
for humans and animals into the United States for use,
storage or distribution in the United States.
However, NATO members should take note of
these new rules and the issues that may arise therefrom.
The chief concerns
are that food facilities may not meet the Bioterrorism
Act’s new requirements, and that errors related to
the new electronic systems for registration and prior notice
will delay the registration process. Unfortunately, such
delays may directly impede the delivery of concession products
to theatres. And, without question, the very last thing
that a theatre owner – or a patron – wants
is a concession stand with no concessions. In this regard,
we suggest that NATO members will want to work closely
with food and concession distributors to ensure that they
are registered properly with the FDA, and that those companies
importing food have provided the FDA with proper prior
notice.
Please contact NATO headquarters if you
would like a copy of the final regulations. More extensive
information on
the FDA’s implementation of the Bioterrorism Preparedness
and Response Act of 2002 can be found online at: http://www.fda.gov/oc/bioterrorism/bioact.html. 
