More than 30 business associations and organizations, including IDFA, recently urged leaders of the House Committee on Appropriations to support the Food Safety Modernization Act with adequate funding rather than collecting fees from food companies.

The administration's 2013 budget plan for the Food and Drug Administration includes a proposal to impose a food facility registration fee to fund activities required by FSMA. If approved by Congress, the fees would bring in $220 million in fiscal year 2013 from food producers, makers and distributors, according to FDA estimates.

In a letter sent last Thursday to Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY) and Ranking Member Norm Dicks (D-WA), the organizations expressed their support for FSMA, noting that the food industry has worked diligently with FDA over the past year to aid with the act's implementation. They pointed out, however, that Congress has twice rejected proposals to impose registration fees as a way to pay for it and asked the members to reaffirm their opposition.

• Read the letter here.

For more information, contact Jerry Slominski, IDFA senior vice president of legislative affairs and economic policy, at jslominski@idfa.org.