FDA Consumer Roundtable

Consumer Protection Priorities

The Food and Drug Administration continually strives to establish an ongoing dialogue between the Agency and its constituents on important public health problems and issues. In 1997, for the first time in history, Congress codified FDA's mission statement into law with the enactment of the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997. This new mission not only addresses specific public health responsibilities such as those relating to food and drug safety, but also emphasizes the manner in which those responsibilities will be carried out, such as through collaboration with consumers, manufacturers, importers and retailers of regulated products.

The FDA Commissioner and senior Agency managers met with consumer leaders on December 13, 2000, in a roundtable dialogue to discuss consumer protection priorities. This roundtable was intended to strengthen the consumer voice in the Agency's process for assessing the need to redirect or shift priorities to better meet its consumer protection responsibilities. During this discussion, the Agency presented information on current consumer protection priorities related to its statutory responsibilities and initiated a dialogue with consumers about their views and expectations related to these priorities. This dialogue will be sustained with consumers throughout the year.

Background

Consumer Protection Priorities