The Food and Drug Administration says high-risk food surveillance -- of products like seafood, soft cheeses and unpasteurized juice -- will restart Tuesday but some routine food safety inspections are already suspended.
The work is “being done by an inspectorate that’s largely going unpaid,” during the government shutdown, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said via Twitter.
“We’re entering uncharted territory,” said Mike Gruber, vice president of government affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers Association.
Breweries have been unable to roll out new craft beers because applications are piling up at a Treasury Department agency responsible for approving labels before the products can be sold. The stall hits an industry with at least 7,000 breweries across the U.S. -- and the consequences threaten to ripple to the suppliers of their hops, barley and other ingredients.
FDA Reviews
Because it can’t collect fees that pay for pharmaceutical reviews, the FDA isn’t accepting new applications for medicines. And it’s weeks away from running out of funds it uses to review new medical products.
The effects of the shutdown are now extending to drugmakers that submitted filings for review before the beginning of the impasse. Aimmune Therapeutics Inc. announced in a filing that the FDA will not begin to review the application for its peanut allergy pill, AR101. The Brisbane, California-based company submitted an application for the medicine on Dec. 21.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which is funded exclusively through user fees, has continued to operate under previous year funds, and agency spokesman Paul Fucito had no comment on when that money might run out.
If the agency is forced to shut down, it would delay the examination of tens of thousands of patent applications, as well as reviews of issued patents that can affect the outcome of district court cases and royalty disputes between companies.
IPOs Halted
Wall Street has already felt the impact in market gyrations, but a long-term shutdown promises to trigger a cascading effect through businesses and the economy.
Among the risks: No new initial public offerings on U.S. public exchanges.