Durbin Introduces New Bill To Support FDA’s Efforts To Prevent Foodborne Illness
Durbin’s FSMA Fee Technical Corrections Act would help FDA to collect already-authorized fees from food companies for food safety inspections
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced legislation, the FSMA Fee Technical Corrections Act, to make it easier for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct food safety inspections and recalls by collecting fees from food manufacturers and importers in order to better support the agency’s efforts to prevent foodborne illnesses.
In 2010, Durbin led Congress in passing the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) to expand FDA’s mission to prevent foodborne illnesses rather than solely responding to crises after they had occurred. FSMA provided FDA with new authorities and resources to accomplish its newly expanded mission, including the authority to collect fees from food manufacturers and importers for reinspection and recall order-related costs.
However, since FSMA’s enactment in 2011, FDA has not once collected these fees because of the complexity of the structure created to collect the fees and because “reinspection” is not well defined in the statute. Durbin’s FSMA Fee Technical Corrections Act would make technical corrections to FSMA and redefine “reinspection” to allow FDA to collect these fees from food manufacturers and importers who fail to meet federal food safety standards.
Specifically, the FSMA Technical Corrections Act would allow FDA to collect:
- $15,000 per reinspection, up to a total of $30 million per year; and
- $15,000 per recall order, up to a total of $25 million per year.
FDA requested these authorities in its Fiscal Year 2025 budget request.
“Americans want to think about what to make for dinner when at the grocery store, not if the food they buy will make them sick. FDA is tasked with protecting Americans from foodborne illnesses and addressing an outbreak as quickly as possible, but for years, FDA has been unable to use a critical funding source that would provide the agency with additional resources,” Durbin said. “I’m introducing the FSMA Fee Technical Corrections Act to simplify the way in which FDA collects fees from food manufacturers and importers for food reinspection and recall order-related costs. With this legislation, FDA would be provided the funds to prevent foodborne illnesses and respond to outbreaks.”
Foodborne illness is a significant and preventable public health challenge in the United States. Each year, 48 million Americans are sickened due to a pathogen in their food, such as Salmonella or Listeria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Further, more than 120,000 Americans are hospitalized due to these illnesses and 3,000 die from them each year.
Joining Durbin in introducing the FSMA Fee Technical Corrections Act are U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ed Markey (D-MA).
The FSMA Fee Technical Corrections Act has earned the endorsement of the Environmental Working Group (EWG); Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI); Consumer Federation of America (CFA); and STOP Foodborne Illness.
Full text of the FSMA Fee Technical Corrections Act is available here.
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