FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg requested more money from Congress so that the agency can improve food safety, police imports and protocols for chemical and biological threats.
And while Hamburg told a Senate appropriations subcommittee that the agency has already taken measures to cut back on other expenses like travel and training, she also said that the sequester-mandatory spending cuts--will slash funds to the FDA by $209 million.
The proposed budget for the agency in 2014 would increase by $821 million to $4.7 billion over 2012. And of those totals, 94 percent-or $770 million---would come from industry fees, a line item that Hamburg hopes will be exempt from the sequester.
"We will not be able to use all those user fees to achieve the performance goals negotiated with industry," she said.
Hamburg added that without these fees, the agency may not be able to carry out drug reviews on a schedule that has already been agreed upon.
But despite the increase in fund requests, Hamburg claims that the agency is a good deal for taxpayers.
"FDA is a true bargain among federal agencies," she said.
"Americans each pay out $8 a year for FDA's appropriations. And for about 2 cents a day "Americans get an extraordinary array of public health benefits."
But one of the largest challenges facing the agency is the globalization of the food and drug supply chain, Hamburg noted.
"The world has changed and our historical regulatory approaches and tools-such as hoping to intercept products at our borders-are outdated and often inadequate."
"If we are to continue to promise Americans a safe food and drug supply, FDA must continue to transform itself, from a primarily domestic agency to one that uses innovative global strategies to secure a vast global supply chain."
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