(a) Submission of accreditation or renewal application to a recognized accreditation body. A third-party certification body seeking accreditation must submit its request for accreditation or renewal of accreditation by a recognized accreditation body identified on the Web site described in §1.690.

(b) Notice of records custodian after denial of application for renewal of accreditation. An applicant whose renewal application was denied by a recognized accreditation body must notify FDA electronically, in English, within 10 business days of the date of issuance of a denial of accreditation or denial of the renewal application, of the name and contact information of the custodian who will maintain the records required by §1.658(a) and make them available to FDA as required by §1.658(b) and (c). The contact information for the custodian must include, at a minimum, an email address and the physical address where the records required by §1.658(a) will be located.

(c) Effect of denial of an application for renewal of accreditation on food or facility certifications issued to eligible entities. A food or facility certification issued by an accredited third-party certification body prior to issuance of the denial of its renewal application l will remain in effect until the certification expires. If FDA has reason to believe that a certification issued for purposes of section 801(q) or 806 of the FD&C Act is not valid or reliable, FDA may refuse to consider the certification in determining the admissibility of the article of food for which the certification was offered or in determining the importer's eligibility for participation in VQIP.

(d) Public notice of denial of an application for renewal of accreditation. FDA will provide notice on the Web site described in §1.690 of the date of issuance of a denial of renewal of accreditation of a third-party certification body that had previous been accredited.