The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) welcomed 34 members of its Aquaculture, Pet Food, Equine and Global Affairs committees to Washington, D.C., last week for committee meetings and visits to Capitol Hill. Members met with 45 congressional offices to discuss how federal policies affect animal food manufacturers, suppliers and their customers.

During the visits, members urged lawmakers to advance policies supporting feed innovation, supply chain resilience and U.S. agricultural competitiveness.

A key priority was passage of the Innovative Feed Enhancement and Economic Development (Innovative FEED) Act (S. 1906/H.R. 2203), which is included in the Senate farm bill. The legislation would modernize the Food and Drug Administration's review process for certain novel animal food ingredients by allowing the agency to use the existing Food Additive Petition process to review ingredients that provide non-nutritive benefits, such as improved animal health, enhanced food safety or reduced environmental impact.

Members also advocated for passage of language from the Pet Food Uniform Regulatory Reform (PURR) Act of 2025, which is included in H.R. 8646, the fiscal year 2027 agriculture appropriations bill. The language aims to modernize and streamline animal food regulation by reducing the current patchwork of state-by-state requirements for product label reviews.

Another priority was reducing U.S. reliance on China for critical vitamins and amino acids. Members discussed potential solutions to address supply chain vulnerabilities highlighted in a November 2025 strategic assessment by the Institute for Feed Education and Research. The report found that production of critical nutrients essential to animal food, animal protein and the human food supply is overwhelmingly concentrated in one region.

In addition to their Capitol Hill visits, AFIA members convened in their respective committees to receive association updates and discuss current and emerging issues affecting their sectors.

AFIA Chief Policy Officer Leah Wilkinson emphasized the importance of committee members sharing their firsthand industry experience with lawmakers to demonstrate how federal policy decisions affect animal food production, ingredient supplies and U.S. competitiveness.

Source: American Feed Industry Association, "AFIA Committees Bring Animal Food Industry Priorities to Capitol Hill"