Obama Memorandum Sets Preference for Responsible Antibiotic-Use Policy Purchases

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama signed a memorandum creating a preference for meat and poultry produced according to responsible antibiotic-use policies. The memorandum stated, in part:

Antibiotics support nearly all of modern medicine – including care for premature babies, cancer patients, and people who need surgery.  Yet, overuse and misuse can reduce the effectiveness of these miracle drugs.  Antibiotic resistance – when bacteria change so that they are able to grow in the presence of an antibiotic that would normally kill them or limit their growth -- threatens to return us to a time when many people died from common infections, posing a serious threat to public health and the economy.  Reducing antibiotic resistance will require stewardship practices in the use of antibiotics in medical and agricultural settings, including eliminating the practice of feeding medically important antibiotics to food-producing animals for growth promotion.

It is the policy of the Federal Government to encourage responsible uses of medically important antibiotics in the meat and poultry supply chain by supporting the emerging market for meat that has been produced according to responsible antibiotic-use policies.  This policy will build on the important work of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and antibiotic manufacturers, which are already taking substantial steps to phase out the use of medically important antibiotics in food animals.

As such, the President directed:

1.      Making available in certain federal cafeterias meat and poultry produced according to responsible antibiotic-use policies. The Administrator of General Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), shall take specific steps to make meat and poultry produced according to responsible antibiotic-use policies available in federal cafeterias that the General Services Administration (GSA) manages (GSA cafeterias)

2.      Broadening the availability of meat and poultry produced according to responsible antibiotic-use policies in federal cafeterias. By 2020, each agency shall develop and implement a strategy that creates a preference for awarding contracts to vendors that offer, as an option, meat and poultry produced according to responsible antibiotic-use policies for sale in domestic Federal cafeterias to civilian Federal employees and visitors, to the extent such an option is available and cost effective. 

3.      Developing a strategy for federal acquisition of meat and poultry produced according to responsible antibiotic-use policies. The Task Force shall recommend a strategy for consideration by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council) for applying a preference in Federal acquisitions for meat and poultry produced according to responsible antibiotic-use policies served or sold in all Federal facilities. The strategy shall include criteria for appropriate exceptions, including exceptions to ensure acquisitions of such products can be made at fair and reasonable prices and within a reasonable timeframe. (b)  By 2020, to the extent permitted by law, the FAR Council shall issue a proposed rule to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement a preference, with appropriate exceptions, for acquisitions of meat and poultry produced according to responsible antibiotic-use policies served or sold in all Federal facilities.

Read the full memorandum at Whitehouse.gov.