The FDA in a Global Market Place

It would be unusual now to have only domestic product in your kitchen or in your medicine cabinet. There will be imported products present and these consumable may be produced under far different regulatory standards than what is considered normal in the United States. To increase its efficiency in monitoring the safety and standards of these foreign imports, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is opening offices overseas:

“BEIJING — As Americans consume more food prepared outside the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration opened its first overseas office Wednesday in China with others planned around the globe.

The move comes after the FDA last week ordered Chinese food products to be stopped at the U.S border until testing proves they are free of melamine, a chemical added to baby formula earlier this year that sickened thousands of Chinese infants.”

link: FDA opens office in China

In theory, this is a prudent strategy. However, this will require an increase in staffing and in budgeting. The FDA will require additional funding in a staggering economy and during a time when the federal government must spend prudently.

Another point to consider is that the FDA has limited authority in a country such as China. The Chinese government will control the data to which the FDA has access. It will be an exercise in diplomacy as much as it is in product security. The potential for an international faux pas is enormous.

Catherine Forsythe