Division of Targeting and Analysis Embraces Greater Challenges, Stronger Collaborations
By: Christian B. Martinez
Vigilance from Afar
While millions of Americans drift off to sleep each night, the never-ending deluge of trillions of dollars in foreign-sourced products continues to surge toward our shores and proceed through our points of entry. The need for safe, essential goods, such as vegetables, fruit juice, coffee, and myriad other goods, does not stop for any time or day; rather, it is a critical requirement that demands 24/7 monitoring and risk analysis.
Navigating this ever-flowing sea of FDA-regulated goods, while assessing their potential danger to the U.S. consumer, means mitigating these threats before they reach our borders.
A lesser team would drown. Fortunately, the Division of Targeting and Analysis (DTA), under the leadership of the Office of Imports and Operations (OIO), is well suited to this task and to protecting the health, safety, and security of the American public.
Though it has undergone several transformations throughout the years before becoming the office we know today, the DTA’s overall mission has remained largely the same. Conditions established by the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (BTA) direct the FDA as the food regulatory agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, to take steps to protect the public from a threatened or actual terrorist attack on the U.S. food supply and other food-related emergencies. To implement critical provisions of the BTA, the FDA established regulations that require food facilities to register with FDA, and that the FDA be given advance notice on shipments of imported food. When it comes to the latter responsibility, DTA is the first line of defense.
“We interact a lot with industry and private consumers as it relates to prior notice regulations,” said Commander Roxanne Adeuya, Ph.D., Director of the Division of Targeting and Analysis. “We require companies to notify us before any human or animal food product is imported into this country. And then our job, as outlined in the BTA, is to conduct risk analyses on those products ahead of them being imported into the U.S. to protect public health.”
An Amplified Need for Risk Analysis
During the FDA-wide reorganization effort that took place October 1, 2024, DTA sought its own transformation to better support import operations and various FDA centers. The vision statement that arose from this ambitious undertaking was to become FDA’s leading expert for bioterrorism defense, risk assessment and targeting, data analysis, and predictive analytics for imported FDA-regulated products.
The takeaway? The Division of Targeting and Analysis would handle more than just food products. DTA would assess the risk of imported medical devices, tobacco products, and other FDA-regulated products with the potential to expose the public to hazardous or contaminated goods. Essentially, the new directive would have DTA harness the same stalwart intelligence techniques, advanced technology, comprehensive risk analytics and years of experience they’ve always harnessed, but this time on a much wider range of products.
“We’ve been engaging in a lot of partnerships with the various centers to expand our work on data analysis,” said CDR Adeuya. “Through shared expertise and joint initiatives, we’re making better decisions to protect consumers and support stronger oversight of regulated products.”
According to CDR Adeuya, FDA’s reorganization effort was the vehicle to solidify work DTA had already been doing. And that is, simply, providing support to various groups trying to understand or make decisions around imported products. Since this information was publicized across the agency via the reorganization efforts, DTA has seen an increase in the number of support requests across the agency, including from the different centers.
Faced Challenges, Future Targets
Since the reorganization, DTA has faced unique challenges and opportunities to learn and to grow. According to CDR Adeuya, one of the unique projects DTA was fortunate to provide risk analytics support for was the targeting of imported electronic nicotine delivery systems, or ENDS, products. Identifying devices such as e-cigarettes and vape pens from different parts of the world can be a little more nuanced than working with food products. However, situations like these are what DTA thrives on, allowing it to flex its knowledge while leveraging a myriad of symbiotic partnerships.
In addition to adapting to unique and complex imports, DTA is constantly adjusting to the sheer volume of imported products arriving to the United States each year. In the last few years alone, the total import value for goods increased from $2.42 trillion in 2020 to $3.36 trillion in 2024, a 38 percent increase.
“The rate is not shifting downwards,” said CDR Adeuya. “It seems to be increasing, so as an organization for imports we constantly have to adjust. Adjust to the changes in the market, the changes in the levels of imports, the types of imports, and new actors to contend with.”
In response to this, CDR Adeuya suggests the solution is for DTA to grow its capabilities. This includes leveraging Artificial Intelligence and supply chain visualization tools that may be available for DTA to achieve tasks and address concerns more efficiently and effectively.
Another capability is becoming familiar with unknown teams within FDA with the same goals as DTA and to break down some of those walls separating them.
“We’re open every day of the year, every hour of the day,” said CDR Adeuya. “It makes us uniquely poised to support our leaders and support those across the organization who need immediate answers. Whether it’s making decisions or providing quick responses to our partners, congressional leaders, or the public, DTA has the flexibility to respond and to act.”
To learn more about DTA, its mission, and what other ways it supports FDA on a day-to-day basis, visit Division of Targeting and Analysis | FDA.