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This proposal would address the current fragmented Federal oversight of food safety by reorganizing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the food safety functions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) into a single agency within USDA. USDA demonstrates strong and effective leadership in food safety and maintains an expert understanding of food safety issues from the farm to the fork. This proposal would cover virtually all the foods Americans eat.
For more than forty years, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported that the fragmented Federal oversight of food safety “has caused inconsistent oversight, ine ff ective coordination, and ine ff icient use of resources, 1 ” and food safety has been on GAO’s list of high-risk areas since 2007. FSIS and FDA are the two primary agencies with major responsibilities for regulating food and the substances that may become part of food. FSIS is responsible for the safety of meat, poultry, processed egg products, and catfish, while FDA is responsible for all other foods, including seafood and shelled eggs. There are many examples of how illogical our fragmented and sometimes duplicative food safety system can be. For example: while FSIS has regulatory responsibility for the safety of liquid eggs, FDA has regulatory responsibility for the safety of eggs while they are inside of their shells; FDA regulates cheese pizza, but if there is pepperoni on top, it falls under the jurisdiction of FSIS; FDA regulates closed-faced meat sandwiches, while FSIS regulates open-faced meat sandwiches. To address this fragmented and illogical division of Federal oversight, FSIS and the food safety functions of the FDA would be consolidated into a single agency within USDA called the Federal Food Safety Agency. GAO and other experts have recommended merging Federal food safety functions as a potential solution to this fragmentation. The National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine (now known as the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine) have recommended that the core Federal food safety responsibilities should reside in a single entity or agency, with a unified administrative structure, clear mandate, a dedicated budget, and full responsibility for the oversight of the entire U.S. food supply.
The new Federal Food Safety Agency would pursue a modern, science-based food safety regulatory regime drawing on best practices of both USDA and HHS, with strong enforcement and recall mechanisms, expertise in risk assessment, and enforcement e ffo rts across all food types based on scientifically- supported practices. The Agency would serve as the central point for coordinating with State and local entities and food safety stakeholders, rationalizing and simplifying the Federal food safety regulatory regime. The reform would reduce duplication of inspection at some food processing facilities, improve outreach to consumers and industry, and achieve savings over time while ensuring robust and coordinated food safety oversight. While the FDA and FSIS currently have very di ffe rent regulatory regimes, consolidating FSIS and the food safety functions of FDA would allow for a better allocation of resources based on risk, better communication during illness outbreaks, and improved policy and program planning through development of a single strategic plan.
June 2018/ General Services Administration & the Office of Management and Budget/ United States.
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