124 STAT. 3956 PUBLIC LAW 111–353—JAN. 4, 2011 ‘‘(e) REVIEW AND REVOCATION.—Any importer qualified by the Secretary in accordance with the eligibility criteria set forth in this section shall be reevaluated not less often than once every 3 years and the Secretary shall promptly revoke the qualified importer status of any importer found not to be in compliance with such criteria. ‘‘(f) FALSE STATEMENTS.—Any statement or representation made by an importer to the Secretary shall be subject to section 1001 of title 18, United States Code. ‘‘(g) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘importer’ means the person that brings food, or causes food to be brought, from a foreign country into the customs territory of the United States.’’. SEC. 303. AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE IMPORT CERTIFICATIONS FOR FOOD. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 801(a) (21 U.S.C. 381(a)) is amended by inserting after the third sentence the following: ‘‘With respect to an article of food, if importation of such food is subject to, but not compliant with, the requirement under subsection (q) that such food be accompanied by a certification or other assurance that the food meets applicable requirements of this Act, then such article shall be refused admission.’’. (b) ADDITION OF CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—Section 801 (21 U.S.C. 381) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: ‘‘(q) CERTIFICATIONS CONCERNING IMPORTED FOODS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may require, as a condi- tion of granting admission to an article of food imported or offered for import into the United States, that an entity described in paragraph (3) provide a certification, or such other assurances as the Secretary determines appropriate, that the article of food complies with applicable requirements of this Act. Such certification or assurances may be provided in the form of shipment-specific certificates, a listing of certified facili- ties that manufacture, process, pack, or hold such food, or in such other form as the Secretary may specify. ‘‘(2) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN REQUIRING CERTIFI- CATION.—The Secretary shall base the determination that an article of food is required to have a certification described in paragraph (1) on the risk of the food, including— ‘‘(A) known safety risks associated with the food; ‘‘(B) known food safety risks associated with the country, territory, or region of origin of the food; ‘‘(C) a finding by the Secretary, supported by scientific, risk-based evidence, that— ‘‘(i) the food safety programs, systems, and stand- ards in the country, territory, or region of origin of the food are inadequate to ensure that the article of food is as safe as a similar article of food that is manufactured, processed, packed, or held in the United States in accordance with the requirements of this Act; and ‘‘(ii) the certification would assist the Secretary in determining whether to refuse or admit the article of food under subsection (a); and Deadline.
