American consumers increasingly rely on goods manufactured in foreign countries. Roughly 24 million shipments of FDA-regulated products were imported into the U.S. in Fiscal Year 2011—from Oct. 1, 2010, through Sept. 30, 2011.

Regulating the large volume of varied shipments is a complicated task and one of great importance in the realm of consumer protection. Every day, FDA field investigators in offices throughout the country and in FDA headquarters dedicate themselves to protecting consumers from unsafe products.

Learn about FDA’s import operations from a former field investigator in this 30-minute webinar. 

An opportunity to ask questions will follow the presentation.

When: Wednesday, Nov. 30, 11:00 a.m. ET

Length: 30 minutes

Where: To join the webinar, see the instructions here. Webinar slides will be posted here also.

Host: FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs

Featured speaker: John Verbeten, branch director in FDA's Division of Import Operations and Policy, and a former field investigator

This webinar is part of a series of online sessions hosted by different FDA centers and offices. The series is part of FDA Basics, a Web-based resource aimed at helping the public better understand what the agency does.

This article appears on FDA's Consumer Updates page, which features the latest on all FDA-regulated products.

Nov. 28, 2011