William Tauzin: “I am proud to rise in favor of S. 313, the Animal Drug User Fee Act (``ADUFA''), sponsored in the House by my good…”

“I am proud to rise in favor of S. 313, the Animal Drug User Fee Act (``ADUFA''), sponsored in the House by my good friend from Michigan, Mr. Upton. This legislation, modeled after the successful Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), is designed to decrease the review time of new animal drugs at the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This legislation is essential to the health of pets and livestock, as well as food safety. CVM is currently experiencing sizable delays in its review of drug applications. These delays are problematic for CVM, drug sponsors, pet owners, veterinarians, and livestock producers. Simply put, the CVM needs an infusion of funds to address review shortcomings. The slowdown of the approval process threatens to reduce the tools available to livestock and poultry producers to produce vibrant stock and to combat animal disease. The slowdown of the approval process also threatens the health and well being of family pets and zoo animals. Further, delays at CVM have a chilling effect on the animal health industry's investment in important research and development, threatening the pipeline of new products. In conclusion, this is a very modest program, but one that is desperately needed. The pace of animal drug reviews has slowed in recent years and the FDA needs the proper resources to hire more reviewers. Please join me in supporting S. 313, The Animal Drug User Fee Act of 2003.”