Audits of foreign countries' inspection systems for equivalence with U.S. food safety regulations such as the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Inspection Act, the Egg Products Inspection Act, and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act do not follow a predictable schedule. Inspections of individual foreign food establishments are also not carried out.
The USDA and FDA have been responsible for country audits and individual inspections of foreign food processing plants for decades. Activist group ProPublica says overseas inspections of FDA employees have hit a “historic low” this year due to agency cuts.
Over the past few years, 15 to 20 percent of food consumed in the United States has been imported. Some fruits and vegetables, such as bananas, coffee and some berries, are almost entirely imported, as is most seafood.
This dependency is why foreign inspections by the USDA and FDA are necessary to ensure food safety. Foreign products are often the cause of outbreaks and recalls. The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 gives the FDA the authority to require foreign food manufacturers to meet the same safety standards as domestic ones. Beginning with the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, the FDA has required foreign food manufacturing facilities to register with the agency and provide advance notification of food shipments imported into the United States.
Overseas food inspections fell during the pandemic and were returning to more normal levels until the current staff cuts occurred. Due to reduced travel costs, foreign inspectors are reportedly forced to make their own airfare and hotel arrangements and wait for reimbursement from the government.
In July, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service provided Chile with a final inspection report on work conducted domestically from January 27 to February 13, 2025.
“The purpose of the audit was to examine whether Chile's food safety inspection system governing meat and poultry products remains equivalent to that of the United States, with the ability to export products that are safe, wholesome, clean, properly labeled and packaged,” the report said.
Chile currently exports raw chicken, turkey, beef, lamb and pork, as well as non-ready-to-eat processed chicken, to the United States.
The audit focused on six components of system equivalence and did not identify any deficiencies that pose an immediate threat to public health.
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