Selling to the US Question

[Englishdesi]

Hello All,

I run a food supplements company in the UK selling products to consumers via the internet. These are natural supplements consisting of fruit and veg. Anyway, over the last few months, I have had people from the US attempt to buy via my website and ship to them, however I have declined owing to lack of insurance.

I have recently upgraded my insurance to worldwide cover and am now interested in sellling to the US. My question is, do I need to register with the FDA in the US to sell to US consumers via my website ?

Any help would be appreciated

[Robert Wheeler]

Are you selling wholesale or direct to customers?

The first thing that comes to mind would that you may have to be VERY careful as to the ingredients of all of your products. There are some things that can be bought over the counter in the UK which are controlled substances in the US.

In regards to FDA approval, I am not sure if it is legal for a customer to import something categorised as a medicine into the US if it has no FDA approval. However, I am fairly sure it is legal to import foods that have not been approved, and there are importers in the US who sell UK products within the US, so there may clauses that allow non approved foodstuffs to be traded even within the US legally.

However, I would think that as the FDA is designed to regulate what people buy in the US, if someone were to make a purchase outside of the US there may not be a restriction. Why not contact the FDA anonymously to get their position?

[Cornish Steve]

I would work through a local distributor, and they should be able to guide you. We get occasional catalogs in the mass of junk mail arriving in our mailbox. I seem to remember that one is from a company called Penn Herb Company, but there are plenty of others. This type of company seems to act as a front for small suppliers of herbal remedies, vitamin and health supplements, etc. Might at least be worth a call to them.