The following Federal Agencies impact the Specialty
Food Business:
ATF | FDA | IRS | SBA | SCORE | FSIS | SARE
Seafood Inspection Service | U.S.
Customs
Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)
Part of the U.S. Treasury
Department
What they do:
- Regulates the qualification and operation
of distilleries, wineries, and breweries
- Regulates importers and wholesalers
- Regulates labeling of products containing
alcohol
Branches:
- ATF National Laboratory Center (NLC):
tests new products to ensure regulated ingredients are
within legal limits; works to protect consumers in accordance
with the Food and Drug Administration health recommendations.
- ATF Alcohol Labeling and Formulation
Branch: examines and approves all label applications
for misleading information and adherence to regulatory
mandates.
Contact:
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms
Market Compliance Branch
650 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.
Room 5200
Washington, D.C. 20226
202-927-8130
http://www.atf.treas.gov/alcohol/index.htm
Internal
Revenue Service (IRS)
Enforcement of tax laws, tax collection.
Branches:
Small Business, Self-Employed Section:
http://www.irs.gov/smallbiz/index.htm
Contact information by state:
http://www.irs.gov/where_file/index.html
Seafood
Inspection Service
Part of the U.S. Department
of Commerce / National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
What they do*
- Provide voluntary inspection services
to the seafood industry
- Provide HACCP plan training, development,
and compliance services
- Conduct product quality evaluation,
grading and certification
- Consultation is available
- PDF versions of training and educational
materials are available at the website.
Contact:
Seafood Inspection Program
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-713-2355
800-422-2750
http://seafood.nmfs.gov
* there is a charge for services
U.S.
Customs Service
Part of the U.S. Treasury Department
What they do:
- Primary enforcement agency protecting
U.S. borders
- Enforce import/export laws and regulations
- Enforce public health and safety laws,
intellectual property rights
Relevance to Small Business
As required by the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, 1996:
- Provides a Regulatory Fairness Representative
to serve the small business community in regard to customs
regulations and penalties
- Partners with the Small Business Administration
to provide training programs and education material on
Customs regulations and law to small business
Contact:
Office of the Trade Ombudsman
US Customs Service
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20229
202-927-1440
Email: trade.ombudsman@customs.treas.gov
http://www.customs.ustreas.gov
Information on Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act:
http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/impoexpo/impoexpo.htm
Food
and Drug Administration (FDA)
Part of the US Department of Health
and Human Services
What they do:
- Protect American consumers by enforcing
the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and related public
health laws.
- Jurisdiction over domestic and imported
food sold in interstate commerce, including shell eggs,
bottled water, wine beverages with less than 7 percent
alcohol , but not meat and poultry
- Sets labeling standards for food products
- Inspects and approves food products
for wholesomeness and safety
- Develops codes and interpretations
of regulations for use by business and state regulatory
agencies.
- Develops Good Manufacturing Practices,
HACCP, and other production standards
- May request a recall of unsafe food
products
Branches:
- Center for Food Safety and Applied
Nutrition (CFSAN): Promotes public health by making sure
that food is safe, nutritious and wholesome, and cosmetics
are safe; food and cosmetics are honestly, accurately
and informatively labeled.
Contact:
Regional FDA offices are located
in the blue pages of the phone book.
FDA’s Outreach and Information
Center:
888-723-3366
http://www.fda.gov
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/list.html
Food
Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
Part of the United States
Department of Agriculture
What they do:
- Conduct slaughter inspection of all
carcasses at meat and poultry slaughtering plants
- Conduct processing inspection for
sanitation, cleanliness, labeling and packing at meat
and poultry processing facilities
- Are currently increasing emphasis
on HACCP in the entire meat and poultry production chain.
- Approve meat and poultry product labels
Contact:
FSIS Food Safety Education and Communications
Staff
Room 1175, South Building,
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
The Meat and Poultry Hotline:
1-800-535-4555
http://www.fsis.usda.gov
Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE)
What they do:
Northeast Regional Contacts:
Fred Magdoff, Coordinator
University of Vermont
Hills Building
Burlington, VT 05405-0082
(802) 656-0471/(802) 656-0554
(802) 656-4656 (fax)
bholtzma@zoo.uvm.edu
US
Small Business Administration (SBA)
What they do:
Offer a variety of programs through
which small businesses can secure loans from bank. The loans
are guaranteed by the SBA but administered by the lending institution.
Programs:
- SBA Small Business Development Centers
(SBDC): business owners receive technical advice for
managing their business.
- Small Business Investment Companies
(SBICs): privately owned and operated companies which
supply equity capital, long term loans and management
assistance to qualifying small businesses.
- Specialized SBICs (SSBIC): provide
assistance solely to small businesses owned by socially
or economically disadvantaged persons.
- Women's Business Centers (WBCs): home-based businesses,
corporate executive downsizing and welfare-to-work with
emphasis on concerns of women in small business.
Contact: Your Local SBA
Office "US Government" in
your telephone directory, or
SBA Answer Desk: 1-800-U-ASK-SBA
Email: answerdesk@sba.gov
Fax: 202-205-7064
TDD: 704-344-6640
http://www.sba.gov
Women's Business Center Contact:
owbo@sba.gov
Phone: (202) 205-6673
http://www.onlinewbc.org/
List of Women's business organization links: http://www.onlinewbc.org/womens_business.html
Business Startup Center: http://www.sba.gov/starting
Service
Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE)
In Partnership with SBA
What they do:
- Offer counseling for small business
owners
- Provide seminars specializing in aiding
formation, growth, and success of small business.
Contact:
SCORE Association
409 3rd Street, SW
6th Floor
Washington, DC 20024
1-800-634-0245
http://www.score.org
