US FDA’s Foreign Inspection Agenda: Visit The 1,000 Facilities It’s Never Seen

Congressional oversight agency urges FDA to make better use of foreign offices with more effective performance measures and staffing goals; GAO notes agency’s progress towards risk-based inspections – and its plan to revisit every site at least once every five years.

Noting that FDA still has not inspected one third of the foreign manufacturing facilities that export pharmaceuticals to the US, the General Accountability Office urged the agency to do more to strengthen its overseas drug inspection program in a report released Jan. 17.

In particular, the congressional oversight agency encouraged FDA to better assess the effectiveness of its foreign offices and to set staffing goals for them

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