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  4. FDA Awards Cooperative Agreement to Improve the National Food Safety System Including the Grade A Milk Safety and National Shellfish Sanitation Programs
  1. Funding Opportunities

FDA Awards Cooperative Agreement to Improve the National Food Safety System Including the Grade A Milk Safety and National Shellfish Sanitation Programs

Funding Opportunities

August 16, 2024

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) awarded the Cooperative Agreement for the Alliance to Support the Activities of the Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS), including the Grade A Milk Safety and National Shellfish Sanitation Programs to the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO).  AFDO was awarded $4.8M in the first year of this three-year Cooperative Agreement, and will sub-award funds to state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) regulatory program that work in either the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program, Grade “A” Milk Safety Program, or the National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP).

Supplemental funding was allowed for continuous improvement for the Grade “A” Milk Safety Program, for activities specific to H5N1/Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) emergency response efforts, which includes sample collections, personal protective equipment (PPE), other equipment, and conducting multi-drug residue surveillance sampling.

The intended outcomes of the Cooperative Agreement are to:

  • Facilitate long-term improvements to the national food safety system by strengthening interagency collaboration, improving the states' regulatory and surveillance protection programs for manufactured foods, conducting research, and promoting the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS).
  • Promote continued development, implementation, management, and support of a funding system for those state and territorial agencies that have primary responsibility for regulating Grade “A” milk or molluscan shellfish (or both). Such agencies may apply and be sub-awarded funds to facilitate training, equipment purchases, or provide for other priorities needed to implement the Grade "A" Milk Safety Program and the NSSP within their respective jurisdictions.

The agency’s overarching goals for the Cooperative Agreement are to:

  • Assist the agency in meeting provisions of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
  • Support the efforts of our federal and SLTT regulatory and public health agency partners to build a national Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS).

An IFSS provides the vision, guiding principles, and key components of a coordinated approach to food safety. It describes the continual improvements and collaborative activities of food safety that will be addressed through the implementation of a collection of initiatives, programs and projects.  It includes the implementation of seamless partnerships and operations among federal and SLTT regulatory agencies as well as academic, foreign, industry and consumer stakeholders (strategic partners) to achieve the public health mission of realizing a safer food supply.

Additional Information

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