FDA-AAFCO Extend Memorandum of Understanding Until 2015

The Food and Drug Administration and the Association of American Feed Control Officials have agreed to extend their Memorandum of Understanding until September 1, 2015.

Various representatives of the agriculture industry, including the Ohio AgriBusiness Association, have been working with Congress, FDA and our industry stakeholders to insert the AAFCO Official Publication into the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act to counter the effects of the Food and Drug Administration Act (FDAAA) of 2007. FDAAA used the term “ingredient standards” and told FDA to develop rules for pet food ingredient standards. FDA was to extend that to all animal foods, as it regulates feed and pet food the same. The problem has been that “standards” was not defined in the law, and AAFCO uses the term “definitions,” as does state feed law based on the AAFCO Model Feed Bill.

In the last two weeks, letters were sent to FDA Commissioner Hamburg from AAFCO, 17 state feed and grain associations (including OABA) and eight major animal agriculture trade associations expressing their support for fixing this issue administratively or, failing that, via a legislative fix. This attention, the looming “deadline” for action in a “lame duck” session of Congress, and the industry stating the need for a decision sooner rather than later to plan for potential approval paths for ingredients being developed, has FDA agreeing to extend the MOU until 2015. This agreement comes as FDA is committed to ensuring the industry will have the ingredient review/approval processes it needs while the permanent fix is agreed upon and enacted.

Click here to read the letter submitted by OABA and 16 other state associations. Click here to read the letter submitted by eight national associations.