FDA unveils strategic plan through 2016

ROCKVILLE, MD. — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a 2012-2016 strategic plan for the Center for Veterinary Medicine and Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

The agency outlined nearly 100 specific initiatives to carry out a plan of seven major strategic goals.

One of the objectives is to advance animal drug safety and effectiveness. The plan calls for FDA to increase access to safe and effective animal drugs and reduce the risk of harm from unsafe use of marketed animal drugs.

The second objective, FDA says, is to reduce the availability of substandard and illegally marketed animal drugs. The agency also plans to foster the judicious use of medically important antibiotics in food animals to minimize the development of antimicrobial resistance.

The complete plan can be found at http://fda.gov.