Dollars Finally Beginning to Match Determination

June 10, 2008 Washington, DC The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) needs an additional $275 million to fund new initiatives including $125 million for food safety and the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) agrees.

This request illustrates how serious the FDA is about ensuring the continued safety of the American food supply, said NFI President John Connelly. Efforts to increase food safety have, in the past, left the hard working men and women of the FDA underfunded, but this request begins to change that.

The new funding would allow FDA to move forward with plans to improve import safety by expanding its reach beyond American borders, setting up shop in other parts of the world where inspectors will work to monitor foreign compliance with U.S. standards.

Modernizing its infrastructure and expanding its reach to ensure the continued safety of imported food is an important step in the evolution of the FDA, said Connelly. It is now up to a bipartisan effort on the Hill to make a real commitment to fully fund this effort.

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Contact Information

Gavin Gibbons
(703) 752-8891
ggibbons@nfi.org