FDA releases Foods and Veterinary Medicine (FVM) program’s future plans.

• FDA’s Foods and Veterinary Medicine (FVM) program encompasses the Office of Foods and Veterinary Medicine (OFVM), the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), and the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), as well as related activities under the Office of Global Regulatory Operations and Policy and the Office of Regulatory Affairs (GO/ORA).

• On July 14, 2016, FDA released the FVM’s Strategic Plan for the next 10 years (FY 2016-2025), organized under four key goals:  (1) food safety; (2) nutrition; (3) animal health; and (4) organizational excellence.  As guiding principles, the Strategic Plan puts first priority on public health and notes the importance of partnerships, scientific expertise and research, and transparency.

• The Strategic Plan imposes no immediate obligations on the food industry, but interested stakeholders may wish to peruse the Plan to get a sense of the Agency’s future directions and longer-term operational goals.