FDA Cuts AFDO SAFHER Funding

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has withdrawn funding for The Association of Food and Drug Officials’(AFDO) SAFHER (System for Agriculture, Food, Health, E-Inspections, and Registration) platform, according to a statement released by AFDO to its stakeholders. AFDO will cease development of the platform due to the withdrawal.

The SAFHER platform was launched to create a highly flexible and configurable replacement for the USAFoodSafety and USAPlants systems, AFDO said in its statement. Planning for the platform started six years ago, and $14.4 million was invested into the project. The platform is nearly 80% complete, said AFDO, with 560 of the 722 total implementation requirements finished.

FDA has indicated that it plans to continue to support USAFoodSafety for another year, according to the statement. However, the Center for Veterinary Medicine is discontinuing its support for USAPlants effective Sept. 30, 2025.

AFDO is investigating potential options, such as continuing the development of SAFHER by individual states, extending the lifespan of USAFoodSafety and USAPlants, and investigating a simplified transition to other systems.

Read the full statement here.