Food and Drug Administration: Selected Funding and Policy Issue

Publication Date: June 1998

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government; Health

Type:

Abstract:

Under the authority of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for ensuring the safety of foods, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, and other products.(1) Those products account for 25 cents of every dollar U.S. consumers spend. FDA assesses the public health impact from the use of these products, and tries to anticipate and prevent hazards to public health. It evaluates and grants pre-market approval to many products, conducts postmarket surveillance, evaluates reports of adverse reactions, and takes enforcement-related actions when necessary. The Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997 (FDAMA) created many regulatory changes and new tasks and deadlines for the agency. In the President's FY1999 budget request for FDA, the agency requested a total of $1.264 billion, of which $970 million would be in budget authority, $281 million would be collected in user fees, and $13 million would come from other reimbursable activities. If funded, almost $50 million will be used for the President's food safety initiatives and $134 million will be used to reduce young people's use of tobacco. This report will be updated periodically.