White House Unveils FY2010 Budget
With critics and supporters lined up to do battle over President Barack Obama’s proposed $3.55 trillion fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget, the ultimate outcome for proposals relating to food safety and agricultural subsidies is a question mark. Still, the administration has proposed more than $1 billion for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to increase inspections of food facilities and protect the nation’s food
supply, an additional $1 billion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) child nutrition programs, as well as a $20 billion increase in food stamps. Additional funds would be provided for enforcement of the National Organic Program.
To pay for such spending increases, the proposed budget would reportedly phase out direct payments to farmers making more than $500,000 in annual sales, reduce spending on crop insurance premiums, eliminate the promotion of branded agricultural products, and impose user fees at the Grain, Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration; Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service, and Food
Safety and Inspection Service.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has reportedly approved an omnibus appropriations bill that would provide the FDA with an immediate funding increase of $335 million, bringing the agency’s FY2009 budget to $2 billion. This legislation would add $41 million to the FDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service budget this year for improvements to food safety and implementation of new requirements under the 2008 Farm Bill. According to a news source, the appropriations bill also includes provisions that would halt the progress of a USDA rule that would allow potentially unsafe poultry products into the United States from China and would implement a country-of-origin labeling (COOL) program for fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and other products. The House bill would provide the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service with $9.6 million to administer the Farm Bill’s COOL requirements. See Congress Daily and Product Liability Law 360, February 26, 2009.
