THE House passed the Animal Drug User Fee Act (ADUFA) June 3 on a 390-12 vote; with Senate passage May 8, ADUFA, which authorizes the Food & Drug Administration to collect fees for certain animal drug applications, now heads to the White House for the President's signature.
The fees supplement the agency's annual appropriations and have enabled FDA to dramatically reduce its review time for new animal drugs, bringing medications to market more quickly while maintaining high standards for safety and effectiveness.
The legislation was approved without amendments. Opponents of modern livestock production had threatened provisions to restrict certain antibiotics from use in food animal production and to require reporting of on-farm uses of animal health products.
FDA already collects antibiotic sales data, which a number of groups have misused in efforts to blame animal agriculture for the rise of antibiotic-resistant illnesses in people, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) said in a statement.
NPPC president Randy Spronk thanked Congress for understanding that "limiting our ability to keep our animals healthy and burdening producers with paperwork wasn't going to help us produce safe food or add to the knowledge base about the important issue of antibiotic resistance."
National Cattlemen's Beef Assn. president Scott George said, "The reauthorization of ADUFA will provide resources for the FDA to conduct timely and thorough reviews of new animal drugs for safety and effectiveness."
"Animal medicines play an important role in public health by providing veterinarians, pet owners and livestock producers with the tools needed to keep animals healthy," Animal Health Institute president and chief executive officer Alexander Mathews said. "Reauthorization of ADUFA helps ensure continued access to innovative medicines that allow our pets to live longer, healthier lives and contribute to food safety by keeping food animals healthy."
Volume:85 Issue:23