GUIDANCE DOCUMENT
Reporting a Temporary Closure or Significantly Reduced Production by a Human Food Establishment and Requesting FDA Assistance During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Guidance for Industry May 2020
- Docket Number:
- FDA-2020-D-1139
- Issued by:
-
Guidance Issuing OfficeCenter for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) plays a critical role in protecting the United States from threats such as emerging infectious diseases, including the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. FDA is committed to providing timely guidance to support response efforts to this pandemic.
FDA is issuing this guidance to provide certain FDA-regulated food establishments (i.e., human food facilities and farms, but not restaurants and retail food establishments), with a convenient mechanism to voluntarily report to FDA if they have temporarily ceased or significantly reduced production or if they are considering doing so. This reporting mechanism may also be used to request dialogue with FDA on issues related to continuing or restarting safe food production during the pandemic.
This policy is intended to remain in effect only for the duration of the public health emergency related to COVID-19 declared by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on January 31, 2020, effective January 27, 2020, and renewed for 90 days on April 21, 2020, effective April 26, 2020, including any renewals made by the HHS Secretary in accordance with section 319(a)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d(a)(2)).
Given this public health emergency, and as discussed in the Notice in the Federal Register of March 25, 2020, titled “Process for Making Available Guidance Documents Related to Coronavirus Disease 2019,” available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-03-25/pdf/2020-06222.pdf, this guidance is being implemented without prior public comment because FDA has determined that prior public participation for this guidance is not feasible or appropriate (see section 701(h)(1)(C) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) (21 U.S.C. 371(h)(1)(C)) and 21 CFR 10.115(g)(2)). This guidance document is being implemented immediately, but it remains subject to comment in accordance with the Agency’s good guidance practices.
In general, FDA’s guidance documents, including this guidance, do not establish legally enforceable responsibilities. Instead, guidances describe the Agency’s current thinking on a topic and should be viewed only as recommendations, unless specific regulatory or statutory requirements are cited. The use of the word should in Agency guidance means that something is suggested or recommended, but not required.
Related Information
- FDA Issues Federal Register Notice to Announce Status of COVID-19 Guidance Documents When Public Health Emergency Expires March 10, 2023
- Food Guidance Documents & Regulatory Information by Topic
- COVID-19-Related Guidance Documents for Industry, FDA Staff, and Other Stakeholders
- Food Safety and COVID-19
Submit Comments
You can submit online or written comments on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 10.115(g)(5))
If unable to submit comments online, please mail written comments to:
Dockets Management
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Rm 1061
Rockville, MD 20852
All written comments should be identified with this document's docket number: FDA-2020-D-1139.