The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to evaluate the impact on foreign firms of its new laws on food imports, designed to protect its food supply from bioterrorism. The Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act, which came into force at the end of last year, requires all facilities exporting foodstuffs, including ingredients, to the US to register with the FDA and food importers to give the agency advance notice before shipments arrive at ports or border crossings. Nearly 20 per cent of all imports into the US are food and food products and the laws prompted accusations from some European firms that the country was putting up trade barriers. Full Story