FDA Food Facility Registration Renewal 2026: December 31 Deadline and What to Check

FDA COMPLIANCE · FOOD FACILITY REGISTRATION

Updated November 2026. If your brand sells food, beverages, dietary supplements or pet food, the factories and warehouses behind your products are probably registered with FDA. This year every one of those registrations has to be renewed. For marketplace sellers, an expired registration at a co-manufacturer can turn into held shipments and stockouts in January. This guide explains who must renew, what you need, how to check your suppliers, and what goes wrong. It is general information, not legal advice.

Who must register a food facility with FDA?

Under section 415 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food for consumption in the United States must register with FDA, unless an exemption applies. “Food” includes dietary supplements, beverages and animal food. Common exemptions include farms, retail food establishments and restaurants, but the details depend on what the facility actually does.

For a typical ecommerce brand, that means:

• Your co-manufacturer or co-packer registers its facility.
• A warehouse or 3PL that holds your food before it reaches the consumer is often a registered facility as well.
• A foreign facility that must register also has to designate a U.S. Agent.
• A brand owner that only owns the label, with no physical facility, usually does not register a facility itself, but depends on every facility in its chain staying registered.

Our answer on whether Amazon food sellers need FDA facility registration walks through the roles in more detail.

When is the 2026 food facility registration renewal deadline?

FDA’s renewal user guide gives the 2026 renewal period as October 1, 2026 at 12:01 AM through December 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM. The law sets the window as October 1 to December 31 of each even-numbered year. If a facility registered or updated its registration earlier in 2026, before October 1, it still has to renew in this window.

If a registration is not renewed by the deadline, FDA’s guide says it is considered expired and is removed from the account. FDA has said it will consider the registration expired for any facility that fails to renew by December 31, 2026.

What do you need to renew food facility registration?

1. Access to the FDA Industry Systems account that holds the registration, or a link to it. FDA’s guides cover linking registrations and retrieving the registration PIN.
2. A unique facility identifier (UFI). Since October 1, 2020, every registration must include a UFI recognized by FDA. Today that is a DUNS number. FDA verifies that the address associated with the DUNS number matches the facility address on the registration, and it will not confirm the renewal until it does.
3. Current facility details: name, address, phone, parent company, emergency contact, and the food product categories handled.
4. U.S. Agent details for foreign facilities.
5. The required assurance that FDA will be allowed to inspect the facility.
6. If someone else submits, such as an agent, a statement certifying the information is accurate and identifying who authorized the submission.

Renewal is a different function from updating. FDA’s guide notes that during the renewal period the Update button is not shown until the registration has been renewed.

Is there a fee to renew food facility registration?

No. FDA says there is no fee associated with food facility registration or renewal. FDA also publishes a notice about private businesses that claim or suggest an affiliation with FDA. If a letter or email demands payment to keep your FDA registration active, check it carefully. A private company can charge for a service it performs on your behalf, but it cannot charge an FDA fee that does not exist.

How to check your suppliers before December 31

Most marketplace sellers do not control the registration themselves. Here is the check we run for brands:

1. List every facility that manufactures, packs or holds each SKU, including backup co-packers and the 3PL.
2. Ask each facility for its renewal confirmation for the 2026 cycle, not just the registration number. A number from 2024 can belong to a registration that has since expired.
3. Match the address on the registration, the DUNS record and your product paperwork.
4. Confirm the U.S. Agent for each foreign facility, and that the agent agreed to the role.
5. Update your import file. Prior Notice filings reference the manufacturer’s registration number, so a stale number creates problems on every shipment. Our Prior Notice answer explains the link.
6. Calendar the next window: October 1 to December 31, 2028.

What happens if a food facility registration expires?

An expired registration means the facility is no longer registered. For a foreign facility, food from a facility that is required to register but is not registered is subject to being held at the port when it is offered for import. For a domestic facility, it is a prohibited act under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The practical fallout for a marketplace seller includes held inventory, gaps in stock, and supplier documents that no longer match what a marketplace has on file.

The fix is to re-register, which takes time because FDA verifies the DUNS number and address before confirming. Do not leave this to the last week of December.

Does food facility registration mean FDA has reviewed the product?

No. Registration is a filing that tells FDA where food is made and held. It is not an FDA review of a product, a label or a claim. Marketplace listings should not present a registration number as an endorsement. Our short answer on what FDA registration does and does not mean on Amazon covers the wording.

Qualified facility attestations are due in the same window

Facilities that are “qualified facilities” under FDA’s preventive controls rules also submit an attestation of that status during the same October 1 to December 31 period. If your co-manufacturer is small enough to qualify, ask whether the attestation was filed along with the renewal.

How Eva Commerce helps with food facility registration

Eva Commerce handles food or supplement facility registration and biennial renewal ($240), U.S. Agent service for foreign facilities ($250 per year, from Houston through Agile 3PL, an FDA-registered facility), DUNS applications ($90, one-time) and Prior Notice filings ($30 per shipment). Prices are listed on our FDA compliance services page. For brands that sell on Amazon, Walmart or Shopify, the same team can keep your supplier documents and listings consistent.

A registration or renewal is a compliance filing, not an endorsement. Book a call or call 858-315-2020 before the December 31 deadline.

Frequently asked questions

When is the FDA food facility registration renewal deadline for 2026?

December 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM. The renewal window opened on October 1, 2026 and repeats every even-numbered year.

What happens if I do not renew my food facility registration?

FDA considers the registration expired and removes it from your account. Food from a foreign facility that is required to register but is not registered is subject to being held when offered for import.

Do I need a DUNS number to renew FDA food facility registration?

Yes, in practice. Every registration must include a unique facility identifier, and FDA currently recognizes the DUNS number. Its address must match the facility address.

Does FDA charge a fee for food facility registration renewal?

No. FDA says there is no fee to register or renew a food facility.

If I registered in 2026, do I still renew this year?

Yes. FDA says facilities that registered or updated before October 1 must still renew before December 31.

Can someone renew on my behalf?

Yes. An authorized individual can renew for you, with a statement certifying the information and identifying who authorized the submission.

Sources: FDA, Food Facility Registration User Guide: Biennial Registration Renewal; FDA, FDA Reminds Food Facilities of Biennial Renewal Requirements; FDA, Online Registration of Food Facilities; 21 CFR 1.230 to 1.235. General information, not legal advice.

Related Eva guides: FDA compliance services, FDA registration and U.S. Agent guide, Do Amazon food sellers need FDA registration?