FDA cosmetics program resources "reallocated" to Food Safety Initiative.

FDA COSMETICS OFFICE REGISTRATION PROGRAM SUSPENDED as part of an office-wide reduction in staffing and program activity due to significant budget cuts across the agency. In a March 30 letter to Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association President Edward Kavanaugh, Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition Director Joseph Levitt says the Voluntary Cosmetics Reporting Program "is being suspended in its entirety." The VCRP compiles registrations for product formulations (Part I) and cosmetics manufacturing facilities (Part II). FDA revoked Part III of the VCRP, the Voluntary Cosmetic Product Experience reporting program, in August 1997 as part of Vice President Gore's Reinventing Government initiative ("The Rose Sheet" Aug. 18, 1997, p. 3). In the letter, Levitt asks CTFA to notify its members of the program cuts.