Establishing A Texas Produce Safety Program

Project Summary/AbstractProject Title: Establishing a Texas Produce Safety ProgramProject Description: The overall purpose of this project is to establish a Texas Office of Produce Safetyto encourage the safe production of fresh fruits and vegetables and to promote compliance with therequirements of FDA Regulation "Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding ofProduce for Human Consumption" commonly known as the Produce Safety Rule. The TexasDepartment of Agriculture proposes to use funds allocated under a cooperative agreement to create thenecessary infrastructure and conduct grower outreach, education and inspections based on the FDAFood Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).Project Goals: Establish a Texas Office of Produce Safety which will be responsible for theimplementation of FSMA in the State of Texas including collection of farm inventory data, training,inspection and compliance.Expected Outcomes: TDA expects to develop a program that is managed efficiently, captures thetargeted produce operations and provides consistent education and successful on-farm inspections.Project Objectives:1. Establish a process to develop and maintain a produce farm inventory;2. Evaluate existing statutory and/or regulatory authority related to produce safety, and determine necessary changes supportive of the requirements in Produce Safety Rule;3. Assess, plan and invest in program infrastructure including information technology and humanresources;4. Provide education, outreach, and technical assistance to farming operations; and5. Design and implement a compliance program for applicable produce safety regulations in Texas.Five (5) Year Budget Total: $6,550,000 for Competition A and B.