FDA Import Alert on Mexican Hand Sanitizer
For the first time in history, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a countrywide import alert for any category of drug product. Specifically, on January 26, 2021, the FDA announced that it will Take Action to Place All Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers from Mexico on Import Alert to Help Prevent Entry of Violative and Potentially Dangerous Products into U.S., Protect U.S. Consumers. FDA singled out importations of hand sanitizers from Mexico due to the frequent use of methanol.

During the weeklong series of 10 informative webinars on trade regulations, we heard TOP TIPs from numerous federal agencies, including U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Division of Southeast Imports, Miami’s CBP Fines, Penalties & Forfeitures (FP&F) Office, Miami CTPAT Field Office and more! Each webinar was produced to assist importers and exporters understand compliance and hot issues. Below are summaries of two webinars – FDA Import Operations Associated with COVID-19 Efforts and CTPAT – State of the Program / Minimum Security Criteria Updates: