They actually considered setting up offices in India and China, which would have meant that they don't even need to travel if they were posted there. But FDA of

They actually considered setting up offices in India and China, which would have meant that they don't even need to travel if they were posted there. But FDA officials just weren't keen to move there. Quoting from the article: "To help Indian factories change their culture in the wake of the Ranbaxy scandal, FDA leadership originally planned to put more inspectors on the ground. This proved harder than expected. Instead, the number of India staff shrank from a high of 12, in 2013. to only four at one point in 2017. Eight FDA employees are stationed at the India outpost now, including two drug inspectors, the agency said." "The original argument for having foreign offices was that staff would have a chance to learn the customs of the country and build key relationships with government officials to instill best practices, said the FDA’s Woodcock. Inspectors based in-country also don’t need a visa for each round of inspections, while those based in the U.S. do ..." "The problem is that the FDA can’t find people who want to live in India, Woodcock said. Difficulty hiring forced the agency to close its Mumbai office in 2016." "Because of those challenges, the agency has largely ditched plans to build up offices in India and China and is instead relying on a U.S.-based cadre of inspectors who fly overseas for a few weeks at a time, she said. This cadre was supposed to number as high as 20 people, but 12 were serving in its ranks as of December."