The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week that it is requesting a budget of $4.7 billion in fiscal year 2014, including $295.8 million to implement new food safety regulations. The proposed FDA budget represents an increase over the $4.03 billion included in the 2013 budget after automatic sequester spending cuts mandated by Congress.
FDA is financed in part with funds authorized by Congress and in part by fees charged to industry to cover the cost of reviewing and approving new drugs. Dr. Margaret Hamburg, the agency’s commissioner, said in a statement that the request reflects “tight budget times” and said 94 percent of the proposed increased will come from new fees to support the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
The FSMA was signed into law in January 2011 and respresents the most sweeping reform of food safety laws in more than 70 years and is designed to place more emphasis on prevention of food-borne illnesses, rather than just reaction to such illnesses.
