With retaliatory tariffs against the EU and countries like China and Brazil, there has been concern about how much medical commerce originates from overseas.

It certainly does, and safety has long been an overlooked concern. Organic food has gotten a free pass, but that is just a USDA marketing gimmick so if 25% of it is fraudulent, no one is harmed, but medicines and devices can risk lives. American companies are forced to undergo 12,000 surprise inspections to insure safety but countries exporting to the US have enjoyed a double-standard. They demanded and got only 3,000 scheduled inspections.



The bat coronavirus lab in Wuhan also got scheduled inspections and that was about the only time their BSL rating claims were valid and we're finally getting smarter about taking someone else's word about safety. Now FDA wants Americans to feel as safe about products they don't know might be imported as they feel about domestic ones so the change is being implemented immediately.

“For too long, foreign companies have enjoyed a double standard—given advanced notice before facility inspections, while American manufacturers are held to rigorous standards with no such warning," stated FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary, M.D, M.P.H. " That ends today. This is a key step for the FDA as part of a broader strategy to get foreign inspections back on track.”