Reference
Food trade regulatory glossary
The acronyms that show up in every export and import project, explained in two lines: what it is, who requires it, what it is for.
- ANVISA — Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency
- Brazil's health surveillance agency, responsible for food, beverages, medicines and cosmetics. It registers or receives notification for most processed food categories sold in Brazil and defines the country's labeling and claims rules. ANVISA & MAPA registration →
- MAPA — Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture
- The ministry regulating animal origin products and part of the plant origin products in Brazil. It handles establishment approval and product requirements in the categories under its remit — which is why the first question in any project is whether your product falls under ANVISA or MAPA. Brazil market entry viability →
- FDA — Food and Drug Administration
- The United States food and drug agency. It requires facility registration for establishments that manufacture, process, pack or hold food for the US market, and sets that market's labeling standard, including the Nutrition Facts panel. United States →
- US Agent
- A person or company with a fixed address in the United States, required by the FDA as the official point of contact for a foreign food establishment. The role is regulatory, not commercial — it does not replace an importer or distributor. United States →
- FSMA — Food Safety Modernization Act
- The US food safety framework, built around preventive controls. It is distinct from HACCP as practised in Brazil: having a HACCP plan in place does not automatically mean FSMA compliance, and the gap shows up in the plant diagnostic. Factory & process compliance →
- HACCP — Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
- A food safety methodology based on identifying hazards and controlling critical points in the process. It underpins several regulatory frameworks, but each country defines how it must be applied — so a plan written for one market has to be checked against the buying market's rule. Factory & process compliance →
- Regulation (EU) 1169/2011
- The European regulation on food information to consumers. It harmonises the labeling base across the bloc — ingredient list, nutrition declaration, allergens — while each member state keeps its own national layers. European Union →
- EFSA — European Food Safety Authority
- The European food safety authority, responsible for the scientific assessment behind regulatory decisions in the bloc, including health claims and ingredients without a European consumption history. European Union →
- Novel Food
- The European category for foods and ingredients without a significant history of consumption in the bloc before the regulatory milestone. When a product contains such an ingredient, the entry pathway into the EU changes — and that has to surface in the viability study. European Union →
- GB 7718 — Chinese labeling standard
- China's national standard for general labeling of prepackaged foods. Like other GB standards, it is not openly published: obtaining the applicable text requires paid subscriptions and local networks. China →
- GACC — General Administration of Customs of China
- China's customs authority. It maintains the register of foreign establishments approved to export food to China — a plant requirement, not only product documentation. China →
- MERCOSUR — GMC resolutions
- Resolutions of the Common Market Group, which harmonise the regulatory base across Mercosur countries. Harmonisation lowers friction but does not remove national registration and labeling requirements in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Mercosur →
- CODEX Alimentarius
- An internationally recognised set of food standards and guidelines created by FAO and WHO. It serves as technical reference for national legislation and for discussions on sanitary barriers in international trade.
- Nutrition Facts
- The nutrition declaration format required on food labels sold in the United States. It has its own layout, rounding rules and reference serving sizes — a nutrition table built for another market is not accepted as equivalent. Brazilian food labeling →
Which of these applies to your product?
It depends on the category and the destination market. A regulatory viability study answers it per SKU.
Talk to our team