FDA Food Facility Registration Renewal

Last updated: August 31, 2026

FDA Food Facility Registration Renewal Deadline 2026

The biennial renewal requirement comes from the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which amended section 415 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. It applies to every facility that manufactures, processes, packs or holds food for human or animal consumption in the United States — domestic and foreign alike — and it applies regardless of how recently the facility first registered. A facility that registered for the first time in September 2026 still has to renew in the 2026 window.

Renewal is not automatic and FDA does not send a reminder to every registrant. The obligation to renew sits with the facility.

Who Must Renew in 2026

• Domestic food facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food for consumption in the United States.
• Foreign food facilities that do the same and export to the United States, unless the food undergoes further manufacturing or processing by another foreign facility before export.
• Animal food and pet food facilities — the same biennial renewal applies to feed, pet food and animal food establishments.
• Dietary supplement facilities, beverage plants, seafood processors, low-acid canned food and acidified food facilities.
• Warehouses and cold storage facilities that hold food, including third-party logistics providers storing food for others.

Farms, retail food establishments, restaurants, non-profit food establishments and most fishing vessels are exempt from registration and therefore from renewal. If your facility was exempt at first registration, that exemption has not changed for 2026.

How to Renew Your FDA Food Facility Registration — Step by Step

Renewal is completed online through the FDA Industry Systems account that holds the registration. The process is short when the account details are current, and painful when they are not, so the preparation matters more than the submission.

1. Recover access to the FDA Industry Systems account. You need the account owner login and the facility PIN. If the employee who created the account has left, or the account email no longer exists, account recovery has to be requested from FDA — that takes days, not minutes, and it is the single most common reason a renewal misses the deadline. Check this in September, not December.
2. Verify your Unique Facility Identifier. Every registration must carry a UFI, and FDA currently accepts only the D-U-N-S number issued by Dun & Bradstreet. Confirm the number matches the facility name and address exactly as registered. FDA will not confirm your renewal until it has verified the UFI, so a mismatch stalls the whole submission.
3. Open the biennial renewal module. Log in to the FDA Industry Systems account and select the food facility registration module, then the biennial registration renewal option. Note that during the renewal period the ordinary Update button is unavailable until the renewal itself is completed.
4. Review every section of the registration. Facility name and address, parent company, owner and operator, food product categories, trade names, emergency contact, and the type of activity conducted at the facility. Any change of ownership, address or product category should be corrected here rather than filed separately.
5. Confirm the US Agent for foreign facilities. A foreign facility must name a US Agent with a physical US address who is available around the clock. This step is covered in detail below, because it is where renewals fail.
6. Submit and record the confirmation. Keep the confirmation screen and the registration number. FDA does not mail a certificate, so this is your only record from the agency.
7. Diarise the next cycle. The renewal you complete in 2026 carries the registration to December 31, 2028. Put the next window in a calendar with the account credentials attached, or hand the tracking to someone who monitors it for you.

The US Agent Confirmation Step That Stops Most Renewals

Every foreign food facility must designate a US Agent, and the designation is not complete when you type the agent's name into the form. FDA emails the person named as US Agent and asks them to confirm they agreed to serve. In FDA's own words, the agency "will not confirm a registration or registration renewal … until the person confirms that the person agreed to serve" as the US Agent.

That single sentence explains most lapsed foreign registrations. The renewal looks submitted, the facility assumes it is finished, and the confirmation email sits unanswered in the inbox of a former customs broker, a consultant who no longer holds the account, or a colleague who has left the company. The registration quietly never renews.

LMG acts as US FDA Agent for food facilities in more than 150 countries. When we hold the agent role, the confirmation is answered the same day it arrives, and the renewal completes rather than stalling.

The Unique Facility Identifier (DUNS) Requirement

Since October 1, 2020, every food facility registration and renewal has had to include a Unique Facility Identifier. FDA recognises the D-U-N-S number issued by Dun & Bradstreet, which is free to obtain and specific to a physical location rather than to a company.

Two details cause most rejections. First, a company with several plants needs a separate D-U-N-S number for each physical address — one corporate number does not cover multiple facilities. Second, the facility name and address held by Dun & Bradstreet must match what you enter in the FDA registration. FDA verifies the UFI before it confirms the renewal, and a discrepancy as small as a differing suite number can hold the submission.

What Happens If You Miss the December 31, 2026 Deadline

There is no grace period. At 11:59 PM on December 31 the registration expires, and FDA removes it from the account. The practical consequences begin immediately on January 1, 2027.

• Imported food can be held at the border. Food offered for import from a foreign facility that is not registered is, in FDA's words, "subject to being held at the port of entry or a secure facility until the foreign facility is registered." Demurrage and detention charges accrue while that is sorted out.
• Prior notice submissions fail. Prior notice for an incoming shipment requires a valid registration number. An expired registration breaks the filing, which is often how an importer discovers the lapse.
• Domestic facilities commit a prohibited act. Operating a facility that is required to be registered without a current registration is a prohibited act under the FD&C Act.
• Buyers and auditors notice. Retailers, distributors and third-party auditors routinely verify registration status, and a lapsed registration can suspend purchase orders or fail an audit long before FDA takes any action.
• You have to register again from scratch. An expired registration is not reinstated. The facility submits a new registration, and the previous registration number is not guaranteed to be restored.

A lapse is recoverable. If your registration has already expired, the facility can be registered again immediately, and shipments can move once the new registration is confirmed. If the lapse has already resulted in a detained entry, that is a separate problem — see FDA detention and DWPE removal.

Is There a Fee to Renew FDA Food Facility Registration?

No. FDA's guidance is explicit: "There is no fee for registration, registration renewal or updates to a registration." This is worth stating plainly because renewal season attracts a predictable wave of invoices from third parties implying that FDA charges for food facility registration or that a payment is required to keep a registration active. FDA charges nothing, and no payment to any private company is required to hold a valid food facility registration.

What you may pay for is the work — completing the submission, holding the US Agent role, and monitoring the account between cycles. Our own pricing is published on the FDA fees page, and the wider picture is explained in cost of FDA registration. Fees do apply to other FDA programs, such as the annual medical device establishment registration fee, but not to food.

How Food Facility Renewal Differs From Other FDA Renewals

Companies holding more than one FDA registration often assume the deadlines are shared. They are not, and the food cycle is the only biennial one.

If your company holds several of these, the FDA registration renewal hub sets out every cycle side by side.

How LMG Handles Your Food Facility Renewal

We have renewed food facility registrations every even-numbered year since 2009, for domestic plants and for exporters in more than 150 countries.

• Renewal filed within one business day once we have your facility details and account access.
• US Agent service included, so FDA's confirmation request is answered immediately instead of waiting in someone's inbox.
• DUNS verification before submission, so a UFI mismatch does not stall the renewal.
• Account recovery support when the original FDA login is lost.
• A free certificate of FDA registration after renewal, since FDA issues none.
• Deadline tracking through LMG Compliance Monitor, so the 2028 window does not catch you out.

New to registration rather than renewal? Start with FDA food facility registration.

Frequently Asked Questions