On June 6, 2012, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture voted to cut funding for the FDA and the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The bill now goes to the full House Appropriations Committee.
In this bill, FSIS will receive $9 million less than fiscal year 2012, and the FDA will receive $16.3 million less. This comes at a time when the FDA needs more resources to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act. The FDA requested a budget increase of $253 million.
The Alliance for a Stronger FDA said that while they are glad representatives did not substantially cut the FDA’s budget as planned last year, they disagree with three areas of reduced funding:
- Cutting the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which regulates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
- Lack of funding for a China import initiative, which would protect consumers against contaminated or faulty imported goods from that country
- Reducing funding to implement FSMA
- Lack of funding for equipment for the FDA’s bioscience building
The funding cut for the FDA may be mitigated by user fees, which industry strongly opposes.
The subcommittee also funded the Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) at $119 million below President Obama’s request, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program received a cut of $408 million.
