Comer Applauds FDA’s Expanded Oversight at Foreign Manufacturing Facilities

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today commended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) expanded use of unannounced inspections at foreign manufacturing facilities that produce food and medical products: 

“Americans deserve safety, transparency, and accountability when it comes to the manufacturing of products they use every day. For years, FDA allowed foreign nations like China to dictate the terms and conditions of inspections the agency conducted abroad, giving these facilities advanced notice and ample time to prepare. Domestic manufacturers are not afforded the same luxury. FDA’s announcement of holding foreign manufacturing facilities to the same, fair standards as domestic facilities is long overdue. This will protect American consumers and prevent bad products from entering American homes. I commend FDA Commissioner Makary for putting the safety of American people first and for committing to stronger oversight of foreign manufacturers,” said Chairman Comer. 
 
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform examined FDA’s inconsistent inspection standards for foreign and domestic manufacturing facilities as part of a 2024 investigation into federal agencies’ strategies against political warfare conducted by the Chinese Communist Party. The report determined that FDA had provided advanced notice to Chinese manufacturing facilities of impending inspections and allowed these facilities to negotiate the date and time of these inspections. On the other hand, FDA had been conducting unannounced inspections on American manufacturing facilities. This put Americans at risk of purchasing and consuming potentially unsafe food and medical products from China.  
 
The Committee offered a series of recommendations to FDA to solve this issue and urged the agency to conduct timely, independent, and unannounced inspections of foreign manufacturing facilities, as had been done for American manufacturing facilities.  
 
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