[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 161 (Monday, August 20, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 42024-42025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-17853]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

21 CFR Part 1

[Docket No. FDA-2012-D-1002]


Questions and Answers Regarding Food Facility Registration 
(Seventh Edition); Guidance for Industry; Availability

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notification of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is announcing the 
availability of a final guidance for industry entitled ``Questions and 
Answers Regarding Food Facility Registration (Seventh Edition).'' The 
guidance provides updated information relating to the food facility 
registration requirements in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 
(FD&C Act).

DATES: The announcement of the guidance is published in the Federal 
Register on August 20, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit either electronic or written comments on 
Agency guidances at any time as follows:

Electronic Submissions

    Submit electronic comments in the following way:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov 
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be 
made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment 
does not include any confidential information that you or a third party 
may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone 
else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, 
such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your 
name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in 
the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.

[[Page 42025]]

    <bullet> If you want to submit a comment with confidential 
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, 
submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner 
detailed (see ``Written/Paper Submissions'' and ``Instructions'').

Written/Paper Submissions

    Submit written/paper submissions as follows:
    <bullet> Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for written/paper 
submissions): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
    <bullet> For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets 
Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any 
attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, 
as confidential, if submitted as detailed in ``Instructions.''
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. 
FDA-2012-D-1002 for ``Questions and Answers Regarding Food Facility 
Registration (Seventh Edition).'' Received comments will be placed in 
the docket and, except for those submitted as ``Confidential 
Submissions,'' publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at 
the Dockets Management Staff between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through 
Friday.
    <bullet> Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with 
confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly 
available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You 
should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information 
you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states 
``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.'' The Agency will 
review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in 
its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the 
claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be 
available for public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. 
Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff. If you do not wish 
your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you 
can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of 
your comments and you must identify this information as 
``confidential.'' Any information marked as ``confidential'' will not 
be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other 
applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of 
comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or 
access the information at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in 
the heading of this document, into the ``Search'' box and follow the 
prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, 
Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
    You may submit comments on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 
10.115(g)(5)).
    Submit written requests for single copies of the guidance to the 
Office of Compliance, Division of Field Programs and Guidance, Center 
for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, 
5001 Campus Dr., College Park, MD 20740. Send two self-addressed 
adhesive labels to assist that office in processing your request. See 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for electronic access to the 
guidance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Courtney Buchanan, Center for Food 
Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, 5001 Campus 
Dr., College Park, MD 20740, 240-402-2487.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    We are announcing the availability of a guidance for industry 
entitled ``Questions and Answers Regarding Food Facility Registration 
(Seventh Edition).'' This guidance provides updated information 
relating to the food facility registration requirements in the FD&C 
Act. We are issuing this guidance consistent with our good guidance 
practices regulation (21 CFR 10.115). The guidance represents the 
current thinking of FDA on this topic. It does not establish any rights 
for any person and is not binding on FDA or the public. You can use an 
alternative approach if it satisfies the requirements of the applicable 
statutes and regulations. This guidance is not subject to Executive 
Order 12866.
    In the Federal Register of December 27, 2016 (81 FR 95068), we made 
available a draft guidance for industry entitled ``Questions and 
Answers Regarding Food Facility Registration (Seventh Edition)'' and 
gave interested parties an opportunity to submit comments by March 27, 
2017, for us to consider before beginning work on the final version of 
the guidance. We received numerous comments on the draft guidance and 
have modified the final guidance where appropriate. In addition, we 
made editorial changes to improve clarity. The guidance announced in 
this notice finalizes the draft guidance dated December 2016.
    FDA is also publishing elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 
Register notification of availability of a supplemental draft guidance 
document entitled ``Supplemental Questions and Answers Regarding Food 
Facility Registration'' that includes additional questions and answers 
to clarify our thinking about who should register in certain situations 
involving more than one possible registrant, such as a lessor and one 
or more lessees for an establishment. When the draft guidance is 
finalized, we intend to incorporate it into a future edition of the 
guidance document that is the subject of this notification.

II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This guidance refers to previously approved collections of 
information found in FDA regulations. These collections of information 
are subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520). The 
collections of information in 21 CFR 1.230 through 1.235 and 21 CFR 
1.245 have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0502.

III. Electronic Access

    Persons with access to the internet may obtain the guidance at 
either https://www.fda.gov/FoodGuidances or https://www.regulations.gov. Use the FDA website listed in the previous 
sentence to find the most current version of the guidance.

    Dated: August 14, 2018.
Leslie Kux,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-17853 Filed 8-17-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P