WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is requesting a budget of $4.3 billion as part of its fiscal year 2012 budget request, a 33% increase compared with the F.D.A. budget for fiscal 2010. The proposed budget covers the period of Oct. 1, 2011, to Sept. 30, 2012.

Implementation of the recently passed Food Safety Modernization Act takes up a significant portion of the requested budget increase. The agency has requested an additional $324 million to “establish a prevention-focused food safety system…,” according to the agency.

“F.D.A. protects and promotes the health of all Americans through every stage of life,” said Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., commissioner of the F.D.A. “The breadth of this mandate means that F.D.A. responsibilities continue to grow. The new budget contains new resources so that F.D.A. can fulfill its growing responsibilities to the American public.”

Other increases in the proposed budget include $70 million for an advancing medical countermeasures initiative; $124 million for a protecting patients initiative; and $49 million for a regulatory sciences and facilities initiative.