American consumers increasingly rely of goods manufactured in foreign countries: in Fiscal Year 2011, roughly 24 million shipments of FDA-regulated products were imported into the US. Regulating that large volume of varied shipments is a complicated and unending task, and one of great importance in the realm of consumer protection. Every day there are FDA field investigators in offices throughout the country and in FDA headquarters dedicated to providing this consumer protection.
For those eho always wanted to learn about FDA import regulations, please have a look at this presentation.