• The New York Times, Friday, January 25, 2008 11:16 AM

Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach wants to have "boots on the ground" in nations like India and China and regions like Central and South America and the Middle East to improve the quality of the food and medicines increasingly flowing to the United States. As more products have been produced abroad for sale in America, the F.D.A. has been less able to ensure their safety. The agency inspects less than 1% of imported foods.

The F.D.A. already sends inspectors to dozens of countries each year to inspect pharmaceutical plants and clinical trial sites. But von Eschenbach says he wants the its presence abroad to be on an "ongoing and continuous basis rather than episodic and periodic."

The plan to post inspectors abroad is still in its infancy. Von Eschenbach is not sure whether he will ask for additional financing from Congress for the inspectors or find money in his present budget. He also says that he had yet to work out with the State Department how such inspectors might interact with other parts of the federal government.

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