Shortly after Jones presentation on the alliance webinar, Congress averted a government shutdown with the Senate agreeing to pass multiple appropriations bills totaling $460bn to fund the Department of Agriculture, FDA and other related agencies and the Transportation, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Interior and Housing and Urban Development departments through the rest of fiscal year 2024.

With approval of the appropriations combined in HR 4366 expected later in the day, Jones said the FDA didn’t anticipate getting all the funding it needs for its food programs, particularly since the agency is reorganizing its entire human foods program.

“Applying a risk management approach is how we can zero in on those issues that represent the greatest risk to public health and where intervention has the greatest opportunity for prevention of disease and illness. Even the most targeted and efficient approach can only take you so far. You need the resources to support the work,” he said.

The agency, hoping “this would be a banner year for the food chemical safety program,” Jones added, requested “our largest budget increase ever.”

The agency’s FY2024 request, made in May 2023, included $19m and adding 40 full-time equivalent staffing for chemical reassessment. (Also see "OTC Drugs, Dietary Supplements Merit Scant Mention In $7.2Bn FDA FY2024 Budget Request" - HBW Insight, 9 March, 2023.)

“We’ll know our final FY24 budget very shortly, but it seems almost certain that the second half of the fiscal year will look very much like the first half, essentially a flat budget compared to FY23. Reassessing the set the safety of chemicals and food is a priority for the FDA. Our $19 million budget request would have allowed us to be much more ambitious in the number of these existing chemicals being assessed and increased the speed at which we're able to do this work,” Jones said.

The latest USDA/FDA/related agencies appropriation set the CFSAN’s spending at roughly half the $404.8m total set for the entire FY2024 and half of $781.2m for related Office of Regulatory Affairs spending. (Also see "In Proposed Appropriation, Congress Tells FDA To Repurpose $7M For Cosmetic Regulation" - HBW Insight, 5 March, 2024.)

FDA Food Programs Chief Assured On Supplement Office Move, Pessimistic On Agency Budget

More from Regulation

More from Policy & Regulation