Welcoming FDA’s New Overseas Leaders: FDA’s Foreign Posts Provide a Vital Resource for Consumer Protection

Posted on September 14, 2015 by FDA Voice

By: Howard Sklamberg and Mary Lou Valdez

Howard Sklamberg, FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Global Regulatory Operations and Policy

It’s simple but true: relentless global commerce and interaction demand a globalized FDA. That’s why we’ve made determined efforts – sometimes with great difficulty – to place our professionals around the world in the key countries and regions that produce FDA-regulated food and medical products.

The Vital Role of FDA’s Overseas Offices

Our foreign offices add an unsung, yet vital, element to the Agency’s global work. FDA posts in China, Europe, India, and Latin America, in close cooperation with FDA Centers and the Office of Regulatory Affairs, help to strengthen our ability to protect public health. Our foreign posts assist by:

Increasing our knowledge and appreciation of the global regulatory landscape;
Facilitating collaboration with foreign regulators to strengthen evidenced-based approaches to product safety and quality; and
Helping manufacturers in other countries to understand FDA standards and regulations.

Equally important, placing investigators in a top-exporting nation allows us to get to a site more quickly in a public health emergency or investigate indications of violations that could imperil public health.

Recent Accomplishments

The Latin America Office has deepened FDA’s ties with the regulatory partners in the 44 nations and territories comprising that vast region. For example, Mexican regulators have followed up on FDA inspection results and have taken immediate actions against firms and products that violate U.S. and Mexican law. Through a 2014 bilateral Statement of Intent, our Latin America Office is helping to implement a Produce Safety Partnership with Mexico, which is vital inasmuch as nearly one-third of FDA-regulated food products we eat are either grown in or transported through Mexico.

Mary Lou Valdez, FDA’s Associate Commissioner for International Programs

Thanks to the work of our China Office, FDA signed two Implementing Arrangements in late 2014 with our Chinese food and drug regulatory counterparts: the China Food and Drug Administration and the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. The arrangements expand the number of in-country investigators and significantly increase FDA’s ability to perform inspections of firms that manufacture FDA-regulated products. We also work closely with Chinese officials to help strengthen the Central/Provincial inspectional roles to ensure product quality and safety and better secure supply chains.

The India Office regularly engages with Indian regulators and industry. India is a major source of generic drugs imported to the United Sates and, as such, we work closely with them on pharmaceutical quality. India also is the 7th largest supplier of food to the United States – principally shrimp, spices, and rice. Recently the India Office played a key role in coordinating a Memorandum of Understanding on Food Safety that FDA signed with the Export Inspection Council of India. The India Office also hosts a number of workshops to increase understanding of U.S. requirements such as records management with industries interested in exporting their products to the U.S.

The Europe Office has continued to enhance FDA’s partnership with the European Medicines Agency (EMA), with whom we actively share data, information, and technical expertise. Since 2009, FDA and EMA have strengthened collaboration through the exchange of dedicated liaison officers and by engaging in mutual scientific interests in such areas as advanced medical therapies, biosimilar medicines, blood products, orphan products, and veterinary medicines. In addition, Europe Office professionals have briefed nearly a dozen European Union (EU) nations on the landmark Food Safety Modernization Act, and have also analyzed more than 150 audit reports from the EU’s Food and Veterinary Office to bring FDA expertise to food facility site selection.

The European Office plays a key role in the Mutual Reliance Initiative (MRI), an important FDA-EU endeavor to evaluate our comparable regulatory frameworks for inspections of manufacturers of human pharmaceuticals to determine if we can rely on each other’s inspectional information. The MRI has led to FDA accompanying EU officials on audits of three EU nations. The Europe Office also managed an EU audit of FDA’s oversight of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) manufacturers within the U.S. That exchange led to the EU relying on our oversight, and allowing U.S.-made APIs into the European market.

New Leaders at Our Overseas Posts

We can look confidently toward the future and the roles our foreign posts can play in support of the FDA mission globally. It is with an eye on that future that we are marking “a changing of the guard” as we welcome new Office Directors and Deputy Directors to FDA foreign offices.

We extend a warm welcome to:

China Office

Leigh Verbois, Ph.D., Director

Europe Office

Donald Prater, D.V.M., Director

India Office

Mathew Thomas, M.B., B.S., Director

Latin America Office

Edmundo Garcia, Director, Director

Capt. Philip Budashewitz, Deputy Director

We also share our deepest gratitude as we say good-bye to an outstanding group of foreign post directors who are moving on to new opportunities: Christopher Hickey, Ph.D., (former Director, China Office), Carl Sciacchitano (former Acting Director, India Office), Michael Rogers (former Director, Latin America Office), and Bruce Ross (former Deputy Director, Latin America Office).

Howard Sklamberg is FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Global Regulatory Operations and Policy

Mary Lou Valdez is FDA’s Associate Commissioner for International Programs