HHS, FDA heads in China
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach are in China the week of Nov. 17 to consult with Chinese counterparts, conduct two workshops and open offices in three cities, HHS says Nov. 13. Last month, Leavitt laid out a timeline for opening and staffing foreign FDA offices to work with local authorities and industries that export to the U.S. FDA staffers are slated to begin in Beijing by the end of 2008; other offices will open in Shanghai and Guangzhou next year. FDA also will launch an office in New Delhi, India, before year's end, Leavitt indicated. Working closely with foreign regulators is a large component of FDA's Import Safety Action Plan. Imported counterfeit toothpaste tainted with diethylene glycol has been on FDA's radar since it ordered the detention of all such products in summer 2007 (1"The Rose Sheet" Sept. 1, 2008, In Brief)