Posted February 10, 2014
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) needs more
resources to implement the Food
Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), according to Michael Taylor, deputy
commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine.
Taylor made this statement in an
appearance before the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee,
according to an article by Food Safety News available here.
Taylor said the agency had enough resources to complete
the final rules, but not to implement the FSMA.
“We will continue efforts to make the best use of the resources we have,
but simply put, we cannot achieve FDA’s vision of a modern food safety system
and a safer food supply without a significant increase in resources,” said
Taylor.
Last year, FDA said it needed an additional $400 to
$500 million to improve its food safety efforts, according to an article by
Food Product Design here.
Taylor noted challenges in monitoring shipments of
imported food, with shipments “skyrocketing” from about 400,000 annually in the
early 1990s to about 12 million today.
“Without adequate funding, FDA will be unable to
adequately fulfill its oversight responsibilities,” said Taylor. “This includes implementing the Foreign
Supplier Verification Program, which requires new staff and skills to audit and
verify the adequacy of the importers verification plan; conducting more foreign
inspections; conducting more foreign inspections; working more closely on food
safety with foreign governments to leverage their efforts; and improving our
data and import systems to facilitate prompt entry of foods that meet our
safety standards.”
For more information on food safety, please visit the
National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
