The President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 budget request includes $295.8 million for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that is targeted to transforming food safety.  Most of this funding is intended to implement new food safety regulations required by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

According to the Health & Human Services Department justification document for the FY 2014 FDA budget request, the overall request for FY 2014 FDA funding is $4.7 billion.  This is an increase of $670 million above the overall funding provided to FDA in FY 2013.  Most of the funding for FSMA is expected to come from two new user fees:  a Food Import Fee and a Food Facility Registration and Inspection Fee.  FDA expects the Food Import Fee to provide about $166 million in FY 2014 and the Food Facility Registration and Inspection Fee to provide about $59 million.  The remainder would depend on Congressional authorization for an additional $43.4 million in FDA funding.

When FSMA was enacted in 2011, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that it would cost $1.4 billion from FY 2011 to FY 2015.  FDA has spent about $100 million for activity related to FSMA implementation.  The Continuing Resolution for FY 2103 appropriations enacted in March provided an additional $40 million in one-time funding for FSMA implementation, an amount which will be reduced to about $39 million after sequestration and rescission.

The overall priorities in FY 2014 for the FDA food and feed safety program, as provided in the FY 2014 budget request justification document, are:
•    Developing and implementing preventive control standards required by the FSMA (which FDA has issued as a proposed regulation);
•    Training of FDA, state, and other regulatory partners in new inspectional protocols
 required to ensure uniform compliance with preventive controls requirements;
•    Increasing the frequency and accuracy of domestic and foreign inspections;
•    Continuing to build the capacity of FDA state partners in order to leverage their programs and resources; and
•    Implementing FDA’s new FSMA import authorities to ensure the efficient entry of safe imported foods and feeds.

To read more about the President’s budget and impact for sustainable agriculture programs, click here.