Developing a Coordinated National Produce Safety Program

In March 2013 the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) established a Technical Working Group to begin development of a Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Draft Operation Plan, in preparation for the forthcoming FDA produce safety rule. The project outlined in this proposal will build upon the work accomplished to date by Technical Working Group, whose current membership includes 22 states, to establish partnerships with additional states, associations and stakeholders, and create a coalition of some of the leading national organizations representing State Agriculture and Public Health Agencies. Project Goals: The proposed project will establish a broad coalition of produce and food safety experts, from states where the food safety authorities resides with both State Departments of Agriculture and with State Departments of Health. Coalition members will provide the leadership, policy and technical expertise needed to complete comprehensive assessments of state regulatory authorities and resources needs, and develop a strategic plan for alignment of state regulations and activities with FDA’s produce safety rule. Expected Outcomes: We believe that the partnerships and plans that will emerge from the work outlined in this proposal will create a federal-state relationship which will leverage the existing expertise, knowledge, and enforcement authorities of state regulatory staff, resulting in consistent and successful on-farm inspections as envisioned by FSMA and the FDA. <p>Project Objectives:</p><p><ol><li> Perform a comparison of state authorities concerning the production of fruits and vegetables by farms to the requirements in FDA’s produce safety rule (to include on-farm inspections, sampling, enforcement, training, education and technical assistance, and identification of areas in need of revision). </li><li> Determine resources needed to conduct activities under a state produce safety rule that has been aligned with FDA’s produce safety rule (identify metrics & develop models for training, technical support/assistance, information technology, laboratory capabilities, & inspection/compliance activities). </li><li> Draft a strategic plan that includes goals and milestones for developing information to assist States in aligning their requirements with FDA's produce rule and identifying the resources needed for implementation of the aligned requirements. Budget: $600,000 per year for five (5) years, totaling $3,000,000. </li></ol></p>