The Food Safety Modernization Act was signed into law in 2011 and represents the most significant overhaul of U.S. food safety laws in over 70 years. The law was designed to modernize the U.S. food safety system and to shift the focus from responding to contamination events to preventing them from happening in the first place. FSMA covers a wide range of topics, including preventive controls, supply chain management, and food defense.

One of the most important aspects of FSMA is the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP). The program was created to ensure that imported food is produced in a manner that meets U.S. safety standards. Under the program, importers are required to perform risk-based activities to verify that their foreign suppliers are producing food in a manner that meets U.S. safety standards. The requirements apply to both human and animal food, and failure to comply with the program can result in serious consequences, including the refusal of entry of imported food.