What is an FEI number,and how do you get one?

The FEI is a unique 7 to 10 digit number assigned by the FDA to a physical facility (an address, not a company). One company operating two facilities will have two FEIs; one facility shared by multiple legal entities has one FEI. The number persists across regulatory programmes, so a single facility's FEI is the same for food, cosmetic, drug and device registration.

The FDA maintains a public FEI Search portal at fda.gov. You can search by company name, city, country or known FEI. If your facility has ever interacted with the FDA (inspection, registration, drug listing), an FEI almost certainly already exists. Use the existing one rather than requesting a new one.

If your facility doesn't have an FEI, you can request one through the FDA's FEI Search Portal using the "Request an FEI" function. You'll need the facility name, full physical address (no PO boxes), country and a US agent for non-US facilities. The FDA typically issues the FEI within a few business days.

A DUNS number is a Dun and Bradstreet business identifier and isn't an FDA identifier. A Registration Number is issued when you complete a specific FDA registration (cosmetic facility, food facility, drug establishment) and is keyed to the FEI. The FEI is the underlying constant; the registration number is the proof of a specific filing.

Every cosmetics manufacturing facility placing product on the US market needs an FDA Establishment Identifier and a current MoCRA facility registration, kept in step with the product listings tied to it. Mismatches between FEI, facility registration and listing records are a common MoCRA inspection finding.

Worldover holds FEI, facility registration and per-SKU product listing data as one connected record. When a SKU, site or RP changes, affected listings and registration data surface automatically and Willow drafts the FDA-facing updates for the team to review.