Developing A Coordinated National Produce Safety Program

NASDA Produce Safety Plan, Project Proposal for FOA: RFA-FD-14-085PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACTProject Title: Developing a Coordinated National Produce Safety PlanProject Description: In March 2013 the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture(NASDA) established a Technical Working Group to begin development of a Food Safety ModernizationAct (FSMA) Draft Operation Plan, in preparation for the forthcoming FDA produce safety rule. Theproject outlined in this proposal will build upon the work accomplished to date by Technical WorkingGroup, 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 organizationsrepresenting 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 andwith State Departments of Health. Coalition members will provide the leadership, policy and technicalexpertise needed to complete comprehensive assessments of state regulatory authorities and resourcesneeds, and develop a strategic plan for alignment of state regulations and activities with FDA's producesafety rule.Expected Outcomes: We believe that the partnerships and plans that will emerge from the workoutlined in this proposal will create a federal-state relationship which will leverage the existingexpertise, knowledge, and enforcement authorities of state regulatory staff, resulting in consistent andsuccessful on-farm inspections as envisioned by FSMA and the FDA.Project Objectives:1) Perform a comparison of state authorities concerning the production of fruits and vegetables byfarms 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 ofrevision).2) Determine resources needed to conduct activities under a state produce safety rule that has beenaligned with FDA's produce safety rule (identify metrics & develop models for training, technicalsupport/assistance, information technology, laboratory capabilities, & inspection/compliance activities).3) Draft a strategic plan that includes goals and milestones for developing information to assist States inaligning their requirements with FDA's produce rule and identifying the resources needed forimplementation of the aligned requirements.Budget: $600,000 per year for five (5) years, totaling $3,000,000NASDA_ProduceSafetyPlan_ProjectSummaryAbstract Page 1 of 1