Customs and Border Protection (CPB), FDA, and FSIS have taken steps to address challenges in ensuring the safety of the increasing volume of imported food. For example, CBP maintains the system that importers use to provide information to FDA on food shipments; FDA electronically reviews food imports and inspects some foreign food production facilities to prevent food in violation from reaching US shores; and FSIS employs an equivalency system that requires countries to demonstrate that their food safety systems provide the same level of protection as the US system, according to the report.
However, gaps in enforcement and collaboration undermine these efforts. CBP’s computer system does not currently notify FDA or FSIS when imported food shipments arrive at U.S. ports, although efforts are underway to provide this information to FDA for air and truck shipments. This lack of communication may potentially increase the risk that unsafe food could enter US commerce without FDA review, particularly at truck ports. FDA has limited authority to ensure importers’ compliance with its regulations, and CBP and FDA do not identify importers with a unique number. As a result, FDA cannot always target food shipments originating from high-risk importers. Finally, CBP faces challenges in managing in-bond shipments-those that move within the United States without formally entering US commerce-and such shipments possibly could be diverted into commerce.