Yesterday, “President Joe Biden on Wednesday invoked the Defense Production Act to speed production of infant formula and authorized flights to import supply from overseas, as he faces mounting political pressure over a domestic shortage caused by the safety-related closure of the country’s largest formula manufacturing plant.
The Defense Production Act order requires suppliers of formula manufacturers to fulfill orders from those companies before other customers, in an effort to eliminate production bottlenecks. Biden is also authorizing the Defense Department to use commercial aircraft to fly formula supplies that meet federal standards from overseas to the US, in what the White House is calling ‘Operation Fly Formula’ ….
Regulators said Monday that they’d reached a deal to allow Abbott Nutrition to restart its Sturgis, Michigan, plant, the nation’s largest formula plant, which has been closed since February due to contamination issues. The company must overhaul its safety protocols and procedures before resuming production.
After getting the FDA’s OK, Abbott said it will take eight to ten weeks before new products begin arriving in stores. The company didn’t set a timeline to restart manufacturing ….
Complete article is free to read online at NPR under title “Biden invokes the Defense Production Act for the baby formula shortage.”
Additionally, see Presidential Determination No 2022-13, “Memorandum on the Delegation of Authority Under the Defense Production Act to Ensure an Adequate Supply of Infant Formula,” issued May 18, 2022.
More generally, in “1950, in the midst of the cold war, North Korea, backed by the Soviet Union, invaded South Korea, a US ally. As a response, President Truman addressed Congress requesting the authority to oversee the economic mobilization of resources as a means to prepare for the inevitable war with North Korea.
This resulted in Congress passing the Defense Production Act in September 1950. The Act has been amended over 50 times since its enactment and has been used to address other emergencies like terrorist attacks and natural hazards.
Now, when invoked, the Act allows the President to force private companies to prioritize government contracts ….