A part of the Food Safety Modernization Act, facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold petfood in the US or foreign petfood facilities that export to the US must re-register with the US Food and Drug Administration in even-numbered years.
In 2012, facilities would have been required by FDA to re-register between October 1 and December 31, or face civil or criminal penalties, including the possibility of product seizure and plant closure.
However, FDA has postponed this deadline, saying: "Biennial Registration Renewal for Food Facilities will not be available on October 1, 2012. We therefore will not be accepting food facility registration renewals at this time. Please check FDA's website at http://www.access.fda.gov at a later date."
The initial requirement to register facilities began in 2003 under the Bioterrorism Act, but facilities must now register bi-annually under new requirements in the Food Safety Modernization Act. Facilities must also update registration when facility information changes.