Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Richard Burr (R-NC) released the following joint statement regarding the pharmaceutical drug distribution security provisions included in the FDA user fee bill that the Senate began debating this week. This is intended to set forth aspects of a uniform, national traceability framework and allow for continued discussions on this policy as Congress works toward a final FDA user fee bill.
“We’ve heard from numerous stakeholders regarding the importance of this issue. We appreciate the critical feedback we have received from our colleagues and a broad range of stakeholders as we have worked together to develop a uniform, national drug traceability system that improves the security and safety of our drug supply chain for consumers,” Senators Bennet and Burr said. “The framework in the current bill enables us to continue the bipartisan work under the leadership of Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Enzi. Our language is built on the principle of advancing a workable product tracing framework informed by risk-based circumstances surrounding counterfeit, diverted, stolen, and other suspect products. We look forward to continuing to work with Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Enzi, and the full range of stakeholders, including the FDA, to find consensus on this critically important and complex issue.”