AHPA Launches Import Detentions Database To Resolve Border Problems
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Recognizing that U.S. border control today differs from 10 years ago, the American Herbal Products Association is gathering data on import detentions and other regulatory obstacles in an effort to understand and resolve import difficulties
|
Recognizing that U.S. border control today differs from 10 years ago, the American Herbal Products Association is gathering data on import detentions and other regulatory obstacles in an effort to understand and resolve import difficulties. "We think there is a value in trying to collate the data and define prominent issues," AHPA President Michael McGuffin said. AHPA on Nov. 28 said submissions to its Import Detentions Database, which are confidential, will assist in revealing patterns such as types of products detained, how long they are held and amounts of direct or indirect expenses caused by detentions. McGuffin said AHPA is receiving more complaints from importers whose materials, for example, arrive five weeks late or not at all without any explanation. "Over the last two years, our members have reported a significant uptick in difficulties at the border, some of which have languished or just not been clearly communicated to the importing community," he told "The Tan Sheet." The database form is available on AHPA's Web site to its members as well as nonmembers, and can be submitted by mail or fax. "If we can get a lot of participation by companies, we can make sense of it and be in a better position to act on behalf of industry," McGuffin said. "Once people get used to filing these things, it will become a fairly easy and acceptable standard of practice." Industry concerns about import detentions have increased since the detainment and investigation of Chinese shipments of vegetable protein concentrates - following the discovery of melamine in pet foods - increased costs for importers and manufacturers (1 (Also see "FDA Import Alert Logjam Eases On Amino Acids, Vegetable Proteins" - Pink Sheet, 10 Sep, 2007.), p. 5). No other supplement industry trade group has started a similar database, although the National Products Association this year launched a program in Shanghai in conjunction with the U.S. Pharmacopeia to test Chinese raw materials to improve supplement quality ("2 The Tan Sheet' July 23, 2007, In Brief). - Mari Nicholson ([email protected]) |