AFFI president and CEO Kraig Naasz, said: “Food safety is the highest priority for America’s food makers and we believe that sufficient federal resources must be provided to fund the FDA’s critical food safety activities. We stand ready to work with the administration to develop a funding plan that ensures America’s food supply remains the safest in the world without increasing costs for consumers and food makers.”
In a January 30 letter to US health and human services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, and office of management and budget acting director, Jeffrey Zients, AFFI and its allies stressed that congress has previously rejected efforts to impose new regulatory fees and food taxes, including a request included in the administration’s FY 2012 budget proposal.
The AFFI-led coalition cautioned that imposing any new food taxes will yield crippling economic effects. In light of the economic damage new food taxes would cause, the groups said “imposing new fees on food makers is the wrong option for funding food safety programmes.”
The groups lauded recent FDA budget increases, noting that the agency’s budget has grown from $1.6bn in FY 2007 to $2.5bn in FY 2012. “We particularly appreciate the funding increase received by the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, whose important work has greatly benefited from a $350m budget increase over the past four years,” the coalition emphasised.
Joining the American Frozen Food Institute on the letter were a number of food groups supporting the AFFI’s views on the matter.
Source: AFFI
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