The chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees USDA and FDA will press for money for the FDA if there is an agreement by the White House and Congress to raise spending caps, said Agri-Pulse. The chairman, Kansas Republican Jerry Moran, said additional funding for implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act would be a “significant” priority if appropriators get the go-ahead to spend more. “Successful implementation does not come without a cost,” Moran said at a special hearing on food safety regulations, according to Agri-Pulse.
The White House requested a $109 million increase for carrying out FSMA. Appropriators in the House and Senate would provide a maximum increase of $45 million.
The FDA says the $109 million is needed to hire additional staff, and provide training and other resources for the additional inspections and auditing of food company records that are part of the transition to a system that tries to prevent contamination of food. Agri-Pulse quoted the FDA’s acting commissioner, Stephen Ostroff, as saying, “Unless we receive the total amount of the request something is going to have to give.”