WASHINGTON,
Nov. 11, 2015 - The fiscal 2016 omnibus spending bill that lawmakers are now
negotiating could include a bigger increase for FDA to enforce new food-safety
regulations than appropriators had originally proposed. “I have no doubt that it will take additional dollars
at some level,” said Sen. Jerry Moran, chairman of the Senate
Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.
State regulators have appealed to the House and Senate
Appropriations committees to provide FDA with the full $109.5 million funding
increase that the White House requested for fiscal 2016. The appropriations
bills drafted earlier this year in the House and Senate would only provide
increases of $41.5 million to $45 million.
The additional
money is needed to implement a series of new rules that the FDA is finalizing
under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The FDA is expected to roll out
a rule this week that includes the first federal regulations for growing and packing
fresh produce.
Moran and
colleagues who are working on the 2016 omnibus have more to spend on FSMA and
other priorities because of the two-year budget agreement that was recently
enacted. Moran said he’s also looking
at augmenting FSMA funding by moving money around within FDA.
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