The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) applauds the passage of the U.S. House of Representative’s fiscal 2023 “minibus” package of six appropriations bills, which includes a key amendment offered by Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind.-04, and other bipartisan cosponsors to dedicate $8 million to the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine to help with expediting reviews for new feed ingredients. On average, studies have shown that it takes companies three-to-five years to get new ingredients through the FDA’s rigorous review process, which prevents innovation from making it to farmers and ranchers in a timely way.
AFIA President and CEO Constance Cullman issued the following statement after the passage of the bill on Wednesday:
“Rep. Baird said it best when he shared that it is important for the United States to have a regulatory framework that offers a timely and predictable path to the marketplace for feed ingredients and that can keep pace with the evolving science of animal nutrition. The additional FDA funding for feed ingredient reviews in the House-passed spending bill is a huge win for the U.S. feed industry, putting us more on-par with other countries that continue to move forward with safe ingredients to enhance the safety, quality, environmental impact and nutrition of feed and pet food. We thank the committee and Representatives Baird, Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif.-20, David Rouzer, R-N.C.-07, Jim Costa, D-Calif.-16, Kim Schrier, D-Wash.-08, and Dusty Johnson, R-S.D.-At large, for cosponsoring the amendment. We urge Senate appropriators to recognize the need to keep America’s agriculture competitive and include this dedicated funding in their final appropriations legislation.”
