Latin America Office

Established in April 2009, the Office of Global Policy and Strategy's (OGPS) Latin America Office (LAO) became the lead for the FDA’s on-site presence in the 44 countries and territories that span Latin America, from the U.S. border with Mexico to the tip of South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico.

LAO's mission is to help ensure the safety, quality, and effectiveness of medical products and food produced in the region for export to the United States.

The Latin America Office achieves these objectives by:

Working both independently and alongside the FDA Centers to assess the capacity of governments to manage, assess, and regulate products within increasingly complex scenarios affecting product safety and efficacy;
Providing an array of countries with information, tools, training and exchange programs that contribute to building or strengthening their regulatory capacity;
Sharing resources with regional partners to support science-based regulatory decision-making and pursue the best possible public health solutions; and
Monitoring and reporting on regulatory and manufacturing trends, conditions, and emerging public health events that have the potential to impact the safety of FDA-regulated goods produced in the Latin American region that are intended for export to the U.S.

LAO operates posts in three strategic locations: San Jose, Costa Rica (headquarters), Mexico City, Mexico and Santiago, Chile.

Contact:

Capt. Michelle Rodriguez, Director
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Office of Global Policy and Strategy
U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa Rica

Phone: +506 2519-2223 or +52 55 8050-2000 Ext 5428
E-mail: US-FDA-LAO@fda.hhs.gov

Focus on Latin America

Latin America, led by Mexico, accounts for 40% of all fresh produce consumed in the United States. Additionally, the medical device industry has grown 800% in the Latin American region since 2002, twice the average global growth rate.

Global CSO Steps Up, Performing Produce Inspections during the Pandemic, Global Update, November 2021
Global E-Commerce of Foods Addressed at New Era of Smarter Food Safety Summit, Global Update, November 2021, p. 1
Reconvening Inspections in Mexico Makes an Immeasurable Impact, Global Update, July 2021, p. 9
FDA's Partnership with Mexico's Regulators Strengthens Food Safety Protections, FDA Voices, July 19, 2021
FDA Places Hand Sanitizers from Mexico on Import Alert, (En Español ), Global Update, February 2021
Why the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is Important to FDA, FDA Voices, November 23, 2020
FDA and Mexico Sign Statement of Intent Forging Food Safety Partnership | FDA, October 2020

Contact:

Focus on Latin America

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