FDA unveils global food safety strategy

The US Food and Drug Administration unveiled its "new global strategy" for increasing food safety inspections under the Food Safety and Modernization Act.
FDA's report, "Pathway to Global Product Safety and Quality," outlines four main approaches the agency will take to better monitor foreign food suppliers.
FDA says it will work with foreign counterparts to assemble global coalitions of regulators; develop a global information system and networks that will allow regulators to share real-time data and resources across markets; expand intelligence gathering capabilities, with an increased focus on risk analytics and modernized information technology capabilities; and will allocate its resources based on risk, using third parties from the public and private sectors to audit and verify compliance of international suppliers with US food safety requirements.
"The FDA and our global regulatory partners recognize this new reality and realize we must work proactively and collaboratively to address the challenges we face," said Dr. Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of food and drugs. "The FDA must further collaborate and leverage in order to close the gap between our import levels and our regulatory resources."