Institute for Food Laws and Regulations

Martin McNeese is a US Licensed Customs Broker with a US Treasury Department license since 1999 and is a Certified Customs Specialist through the US National Customs and Freight Forwarders Association (NCBFAA). He is a member of the New York / New Jersey Foreign Freight Forwarders and Brokers Association, the Specialty Food Association in New York and the European Food Law Association in Brussels, Belgium. He received training from the World Customs Organization (C5) in Brussels, Belgium, enabling him to have a global customs perspective, including how Customs interacts with Partner Government Agencies (PGAs) such as US FDA and the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA -  国家食品药品监督管理总局)) in determining the admissibility of products for import and export. 

Mr. McNeese is a multicultural American with over 25 years of work experience in the USA and Europe. He is fluent in English, Italian, French, German, and Spanish. After graduating from the University of Georgia in Athens, USA with a BBA in Finance and a minor in German Language and Culture, he worked for a Swiss multinational corporation and was responsible for developing and facilitating international trade in the USA, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, France and Italy, including trade with China. While working for this Swiss conglomerate in the USA, Mr. McNeese was instrumental in developing US food and beverage exports worldwide, including the Far East.

Mr. McNeese received PIDA training in negotiating, drafting, dispute resolution, different cultural and legal approaches from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Institute of World Business Law in Paris, France. His education includes food safety courses at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Facility Management in Switzerland. Mr. McNeese studied perfumery at the premier French school for perfumery, ASFO-Grasse in France, including Perfume Legislation. Perfumes, like cosmetics, are regulated by food and drug administrations around the globe.

To further his knowledge of the food industry, Mr. McNeese enrolled in MSU's International Food Laws & Regulations (IFLR) program and earned Michigan State University's Jurisprudence Achievement Award in International Food Laws and Regulations with Professor Fortin, in the Fall of 2017. Thereafter, he applied for and was accepted into Michigan State University's Law School, Master of Jurisprudence in Global Food Law.

Using his work and study experiences, Mr. McNeese was ready for a new adventure and started his own company, McNeese Customs & Commerce srl, near Venice, Italy in 2006. To be at the pulse of international trade in America, Mr. McNeese created Fratelli McNeese d.b.a. FDA Compliance Services, Inc. in Manhattan, New York.  He is a firm believer that regulatory compliance enables market access, and that compliance is a competitive advantage. Being an entrepreneur who is passionate about learning practical matters which are easily translated into doing better business, and his style of teaching reflects this mentality.  

Mr. McNeese is a guest contributor to the IFLR course Food Laws and Regulations in China.