Opposition Grows Toward Proposal to Close FDA Labs

Significant opposition -- including a Senate amendment to an authorization bill -- continues to build against an ill-conceived plan by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to close seven of its 13 laboratories and restructure its field operations.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) welcomed both the FDA authorization bill amendment offered by Senators Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), and a letter released by Specter strongly opposing the plan from the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority. Among the labs slated to be closed are those in Denver and Philadelphia.

"It seems clear, with three major food-borne outbreaks in the last 18 months," President Kelley said, "that closing FDA labs endangers the health of all Americans. It is time to take this proposal off the table."

The FDA has received bipartisan letters from Congress calling for a halt to the proposal while lawmakers review the impact of the plan.

Nonetheless, the agency is moving ahead with the plan it announced in February to close, by 2009, labs not only in Denver and Philadelphia, but in Detroit; Lenexa, Kan.; San Francisco; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Winchester, Mass., as well.

The Salazar-Specter amendment would prevent a reduction or consolidation in the number of FDA lab facilities within its Office of Regulatory Affairs pending "a comprehensive review" of the plan by the Government Accountability Office.

Sen. Salazar noted that as a member lab of the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN), the Denver FDA lab plays an important role in national security. It also is part of the Centers for Disease Control Select Agent Program, making it one of the first lines of defense against possible bioterrorism attacks.

Meanwhile, the letter from the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority warned against closing that lab.

The loss of the lab, the authority's executive director said, would seriously impede the ability of the port to process large volumes of imported meat and produce. "Having local FDA personnel available to provide quick and accurate response is essential for the port to maintain its leadership in this area." He warned, as well, that the lab consolidation "has the potential of compromising public health and safety."

As the largest independent federal union, NTEU represents some 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments, including 5,200 in the FDA.

For additional information visit http://www.nteu.org/fdalabs.