House Dems Push White House to Discontinue FSMA User Fee Funding
The Obama administration should recommend an expanded Food and Drug Administration budget authority in fiscal year 2016 to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), rather than another request for increased use -fees to fund the law's implementation, said two…
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House lawmakers in recent days. The White House asked for the FDA to collect user fees for food imports, as well as food facility registration and inspection, in its FY15 budget request (see 14030519). A 2013 district court decision led to a settlement between the FDA and the Center for Food Safety which requires the seven FSMA final implementation rules to be published between August 2015 and May 2016 (see 14022124). “No bill to authorize such fees has been introduced and even if enabling legislation is introduced this year, it is highly unlikely that any new law will be enacted in time to fund these vital FSMA implementation steps,” said Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Sam Farr, D-Calif., in the letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell. Congress rejected the last five administration requests for user fees designed to implement the FSMA (here), said the lawmakers. If properly funded and implemented, the law is able to “deploy a truly risk-based oversight system and more fully secure our food supply,” the letter said.