Initiation of Cooperative Agreement Between U.s. Fda and S.c. Dhec to Advance Conformance With Nine Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards.

Award of the Advancing Conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards(VNRFRPS) Cooperative Agreement will allow South Carolina Department of Health and EnvironmentalControl to:1. Identify program areas where the agency can have the greatest impact on retail food safety.2. Promote wider application of effective risk-factor intervention strategies.3. Assist in identifying program areas most in need of additional attention.4. Provide information needed to justify maintenance or increase in program budgets.5. Lead to innovations in program implementation and administration.6. Improve industry and consumer confidence in SC retail food safety by enhancing uniformity of inspections and other procedures.These goals will be accomplished by a dedicated, full-time, Retail Coordinator who will be required to:1. Complete and maintain self-assessments on all nine standards and arrange for a validation audit when appropriate.2. Conducting statewide risk factor studies.3. Communicate requirements of Cooperative Agreement with relevant staff to ensure all tasks are accomplished in a timely fashion.Additionally, the Retail Coordinator will be responsible for satisfying all requirements of this cooperativeagreement, which will include:1. Completing, in a timely fashion, the Mid-Year & Final Progress Reports.2. Updating status reports on the hiring and training of food program personnel.3. Acquiring updated funding certifications and corresponding with DHEC Bureau of Finance in regards to VNRFRPS needs.4. Developing and maintaining a strategic plan that accurately reflects when specific objectives and tasks have been, or will be, completed and/or implemented and when new objectives and tasks are identified to advance conformance with the Retail Program Standards.