International Activities

Over the last twenty years, international issues bearing on the safety, quality and labeling of FDA-regulated foods and cosmetics have become increasingly important to FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).

During this period, the volume and variety of food products imported into the United States has increased dramatically and, as a result, FDA's traditional monitoring and border inspection approaches for imported products are no longer effective as the sole means of protecting the safety of these commodities. Consequently, CFSAN has developed and is implementing new strategies for imported foods and cosmetics to complement FDA's traditional enforcement approaches.