In conjunction with President Obama’s proposed 2013 budget, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced its own budget for fiscal 2013.

The budget includes a Transforming Food Safety Initiative that will help the organization implement the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which was signed by President Obama in January 2011.

A $253 million increase in the budget will be directed toward the Transforming Food Safety Initiative, which will support the aim of FSMA to strengthen a prevention-based food safety program for both domestic and imported foods.

Overall, the FDA’s proposed fiscal 2013 budget is $4.5 billion, a 17 percent increase over 2012. Some 98 percent of the increase is in user fees, said Patrick McGarey, assistant commissioner for budget for the FDA, during a call with congressional stakeholders and media to announce the budget.

“All of these proposals are additive fees; in other words, none of these are off-setting by reducing FDA’s budget correspondingly,” McGarey said.

McGarey said the 2013 budget also “addresses the challenges of globalization, and is designed to allow the FDA to meet its public health responsibilities.”

The biggest piece to globalization, and one of the biggest focuses of the 2013 budget, is China. Some $10 million is included in the budget under the Transforming Food Safety and Protecting Patients Initiatives that will help “enhance collaboration with our Chinese counterparts and increase FDA’s presence in China and expertise and understanding of manufacturing in China,” McGarey said.

By Sam Oches