Routine inspections are not conducted as part of a public health emergency, but are an important way for FDA to ensure that foreign food facilities exporting to the U.S., and their products, meet U.S. requirements. It is important to note that routine inspections are designed to evaluate a facility’s adherence to applicable U.S. laws and are not designed to assess a Competent Authority’s food safety system. As such, these inspections are different from systems audits.
