Food Safety Update
As you may have seen, the HELP Committee released a revised manager’s package to the food safety bill (S. 510) yesterday evening. As press reports have indicated, the manager’s package does NOT address Sen. Feinstein’s proposed ban on bisphenol-A (BPA), and also does not address Sen. Tester’s proposed amendment exempting small farmers from the bill’s requirements. Those issues remain to be addressed prior to floor consideration.
The Congressional Budget Office also released a score of the manager’s package last night. CBO found that the bill would increase discretionary spending subject to appropriations by $1.4 billion over five years. According to CBO, this higher funding level would allow the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to inspect 50,000 domestic and food facilities in 2015, up from 7,400 facility inspections in fiscal year 2009.
More information and summaries on the revised legislation will be available next week.