Plan submitted for baby formula imports

U.S. regulators have unveiled their plan to allow foreign baby

formula manufacturers to stay in the market long term, an effort to diversify the nation’s tightly concentrated industry and prevent future shortages.

The Food and Drug Administration said recent entrants to the U.S. market will have until October 2025 to make sure their formulas comply with federal standards for nutrition, labeling and manufacturing. The agency noted that some companies should be able to meet those requirements sooner.

The U.S. has been forced to turn to foreign manufacturers to boost formula supplies since February, when FDA inspectors temporarily shuttered the nation’s largest domestic formula factory due to bacterial contamination.

In May, the FDA eased federal import regulations and President Biden authorized the airlift of millions of pounds of powdered formula from overseas. Together those actions have brought the equivalent of 300 million bottles of formula into the country, according to the FDA.

The policy allowing importation was set to expire in November.