Chairman Scott, Ranking Member Gillibrand Press America’s Pharmacies on U.S. Drug Supply Chain and Country-of-Origin Labeling for Foreign-Made Drugs

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Chairman Rick Scott and Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging sent a letter to the chief executive officers of CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart, requesting an update on their efforts to safeguard the integrity of the U.S. drug supply chain and protect patients. The chairman and ranking member also thanked CVS and Walgreens for sharing their plans to implement country-of-origin labeling for foreign-manufactured drugs in response to the committee's November 2025 letter.

This letter builds on the chairman and ranking member's ongoing efforts to strengthen America's drug supply chain, including previous letters to Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., pharmaceutical distributor executives, and group purchasing organizations, as well as the release of their investigative report exposing the nation's overreliance on foreign-manufactured generic drugs.

The committee has also convened four recent hearings, on September 17, examining how dependence on foreign generics threatens drug safety and availability, on October 8, exploring solutions to bolster domestic manufacturing and ensure Americans' access to safe, high-quality medicines, on November 19, showcasing domestic manufacturing capabilities, and most recently on January 29, where the chairman and ranking member unveiled new legislation, the CLEAR LABELS Act, to require country-of-origin labeling on drugs so American families are protected and know exactly where their medicines are from.

Read the full letter HERE or below:

Dear Mr. Motz, Mr. David Joyner, and Mr. McMillon:

Thank you for your recent response to our inquiry regarding Walgreen Co., CVS Health, and Walmart Inc.'s approach to address vulnerabilities in foreign drug supply chains and the associated issues of unsafe foreign drugs entering our country. As chairman and ranking member of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, we are dedicated to ensuring that every American patient has access to safe, affordable, and effective pharmaceuticals. Delivering on this starts by ensuring we have transparency and accountability from foreign drug entities for American patients. To that end, our committee held a hearing on January 29, 2026, entitled Truth in Labeling: Americans Deserve to Know Where Their Drugs Come From, where we focused on the lack of transparency surrounding the country-of-origin for generic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) sold in the United States. In addition, we introduced the Consumer Labeling for Enhanced API Reporting and Legitimate Accountability for Base Entity Listings (CLEAR LABELS) Act, which will require drug labeling to identify the original manufacturers of finished drug products and active pharmaceutical ingredients. We applaud CVS and Walgreen Co. expressing their intentions to implement country-of-origin labeling in their responses to the committee, as pharmacies are often the final point of care with American patients.

We commend Walgreen Co., CVS Health, and Walmart Inc.'s proactive efforts to enhance supply chain management. To gain a deeper understanding of your approach to safeguarding the integrity of the drug supply chain and its impact on patient care, we are requesting additional information about your procurement strategies. Specifically, as noted in our November 10, 2025, letter, we request further clarification on your protocols for the handling of drugs and ingredients exempted from the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) import bans, and on the implementation of transparent country-of-origin labeling.

We request the following information no later than March 15, 2026:

1. How is Walgreen Co., CVS Health, and Walmart Inc. implementing country-of-origin labeling, and according to which standards?
2. 1. What is the anticipated timeline for full implementation by your company?
   2. Will this information be transparent for consumers, pharmacists, and providers?
   3. Will this include the API's country of origin?
   4. Will this information be available in both paper and online formats?
3. Does Walgreen Co., CVS Health, or Walmart Inc. receive notifications from the FDA or suppliers if a product is exempted from an import ban?
4. 1. What specific actions are taken when a product is subject to an import ban exemption?
5. Could Walgreen Co., CVS Health, or Walmart Inc. ask its distributors and/or manufacturers for the country-of-origin of the APIs for the generic drugs they dispense?
6. 1. If this information is available, how will the procurement of generic drugs be prioritized?
7. To what extent does Walgreen Co., CVS Health, and Walmart Inc. contract directly with suppliers?
8. 1. How does Walgreen Co., CVS Health, and Walmart Inc. interface with suppliers and the FDA on quality, specifically when the agency issues Form 483s?
9. Does Walgreen Co., CVS Health, and Walmart Inc. work with the FDA or industry stakeholders in any capacity on the Quality Management Maturity program or any other quality metrics?

Transparency in supply chains and product labeling is critical to ensuring a healthy market and to promoting quality products. Thank you for your continued dialogue with the committee and for your work to ensure the safety and reliability of the pharmaceutical supply chain.

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