Food Processors React to Appropriations

July 13, 2000

Food processors, reacting to a House vote Tuesday to approve the agricultural appropriations bill, said the measure included "a number of priorities advocated" by the National Food Processors Association. A key item in the bill for the NFPA was a call for Food and Drug Administration to unify inter-agency efforts, particularly with USDA, to address regulation of biotech foods.

The House bill also provided $1 million to FDA for pre-market food additive reviews to "analyze risks associated with emerging biotech foods and develop criteria for evaluating the safety of biotech foods used in animal feeds." The report to accompany the legislation also included policy directives advocated by NFPA.

NFPA said the report directs FDA to comply with the FDA Modernization Act to make a final rule by September 2001 prescribing alternative truthful and non-misleading irradiation disclosures. The report endorses a Food Safety and Inspection Servuce proposed implementation of daily, unscheduled inspection in processing establishments and directs FSIS to report by Jan. 31, 2001, on other means of "enhancing inspection efficiency."

The report also requires FSIS to report by November 2000 on pathogen reduction and hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) regulations and revisions or removal of those regulations in the wake of HACCP implementation. In addition, the report directs FDA to report and explain the basis for treating dietary supplements and conventional foods differently as it implements the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Pearson v. Shalala.

In keeping with NFPA's prior advocacy efforts, the legislation rejected any new unauthorized user fees for either USDA or FDA that were proposed by the Clinton Administration and rejected expanded USDA-FDA enforcement powers. No amendments were offered to expand enforcement authority -- such as civil monetary penalties or mandatory recall authority. NFPA said it will continue to organize opposition to such amendments if they arise during Senate consideration of the bill.