There is no evidence of coronavirus transmission associated with imported goods from China, the FDA said Feb. 24
The agency said it cannot conduct normal inspections of facilities in China due to U.S. State Department travel restrictions, but it outlined steps it is taking to monitor regulated products coming to the U.S. from China.
"We continue monitoring the global drug supply chain by prioritizing risk-based inspections in other parts of the world," the FDA said in a news release.
The agency said it is using import screenings, exams, sampling, import alerts, the previous compliance history of facilities and information from foreign governments to ensure the safety of goods arriving to the U.S. from China.
The agency also will continue working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to monitor products crossing the border.
"Fortunately, currently, we are not seeing the impacts of this outbreak resulting in an increased public health risk for American consumers from imported products," the agency said.
There is no evidence suggesting transmission of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, is associated with imported goods and no U.S. cases of the disease have happened because of imported goods, the FDA stated.
More than 60 percent of FDA-regulated products arriving from China are medical devices, and 20 percent are housewares, such as food packaging, the FDA said.
There may be a backlog of on-the-ground inspections in China if the travel restriction persists, the agency warned.
Read the full news release here.