FDA refusal charges
FDA refusal charge codes
Meanings in plain English, FDA's official statements, and how often each code is used.
FDA records one or more charge codes on every refused shipment line; these are the 0 codes recorded on food shipment lines through October 22, 2026, with FDA's official statements.
Data from FDA public records, last checked .
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- charge codes recorded on food lines
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- explained in plain English
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- lines under the top code, the most used
The most used charge codes
Shipment lines carrying each code since October 2016. A line can carry more than one code, so counts do not add up to the number of refused lines.
Every charge code
0 codes, most used first. Open a code for FDA's official statement, the law it cites and the countries and products behind it.
| Code | Meaning | Lines | Share |
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- What is an FDA refusal charge code?
- A refusal charge code is the short code FDA records on a refused shipment line to say which provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act the line appeared to violate. One line can carry several codes. FDA publishes the code, its official statement and its statutory section in the Refusal Charges reference table.
- Which refusal charge codes are the most common?
- As of October 22, 2026, the most frequent codes on food shipment lines are .
- Does a refusal charge mean the food was unsafe?
- No. A charge states the reason FDA recorded for refusing admission of a shipment line, and many charges concern labeling or paperwork rather than the food itself. FDA's official statements say the article “appears” to violate a provision; the charge is a regulatory record, not a court finding.
- Where do the official statements on these pages come from?
- They are copied unchanged from FDA's Refusal Charges reference table (ACT_SECTION_CHARGES.CSV), which FDA links from its import refusals dashboard. The plain-English meanings are written by SupplierRadar to restate the official statement and never describe why a particular shipment was refused.
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SupplierRadar is not affiliated with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Data comes from public FDA records and may contain errors. This is not legal advice; importers remain responsible for their supplier evaluations.