Washington -- The House of Representatives has approved a measure that would effectively allow people in the United States to buy prescription drugs from abroad but few expect the provision to become law.

The drug-import language was approved July 13 as part of a funding bill for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It would prohibit the FDA from spending money to enforce its prohibition on imports of FDA-approved drugs.

The White House budget office issued a statement saying the administration is "strongly opposed" to the measure due to potential health and safety concerns. "It would be virtually impossible for the FDA to verify that drugs being imported are indeed FDA-approved and not counterfeit," the statement said.

Supporters of the import measure said that the rising cost of health care in the United States, especially for older persons, should justify the importation of medicines from countries that impose price caps on medicine.

The overall agriculture bill passed on a 389-31 vote and was sent to the Senate, which has yet to draft its own version of the legislation. Any House-Senate differences must be reconciled and a final bill passed by both chambers before it can be signed into law by the president.

Most observers believe the drug importation language will be dropped during House-Senate negotiations, as happened in 2003.