Maintenance of the Colorado Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards (U18)

<p>Maintenance of the Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards (AFRPS) Project (U18) PAR-20-132 Colorado Department of Agriculture Inspection &amp; Consumer Services Division CDA-ICS Animal Feed Program Project Summary/Abstract The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) is committed to maintaining the implementation of the FDA's Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards (AFRPS) as part of the critical elements of creating a national, fully integrated feed safety system. The CDA currently has two FDA feed inspection contracts (Medicated Feed and BSE/Feed Safety) in place and we have nine (9) staff members that are FDA-credentialed inspectors. The Animal Feed Program ("the Feed Program") is an organizational unit within the CDA's Inspection &amp; Consumer Services Division ("the Division"). The Feed Program is applying for FDA funding under this cooperative agreement to enhance our program by maintaining the implementation of the Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards (AFRPS). This will be accomplished through assessment and revision of current procedures and policies, providing training to the inspection staff, and evaluating the adoption of 21 CFR 507. The Feed Program will also support the CDA Biochemistry laboratory through the collection of samples under the Flexible Funding Model. Funding from this grant will also allow CDA staff to contribute to the continuous improvement of the AFRPS through attendance at annual face-to-face meetings, active participation in committees, and other initiatives supporting the AFRPS. The Feed Program has completed the implementation of the AFRPS standards. The cost of maintaining the implementation of the AFRPS is burdensome and consumes funds from the Feed Program licensing and tonnage fees that would otherwise go into feed sampling and testing. CDA is enthusiastic about this opportunity for FDA support to off-set some of these costs and enhance our feed inspection program. A significant challenge to the Feed Program is finding dedicated time and resources to maintain program standards while at the same time meeting the day-to-day workload demands of the program. Receiving this cooperative agreement would provide additional resources, specifically in areas of training, auditing, and assessing and revising policies and procedures. Currently, the Feed Program does not have enough staff focused solely on making these improvements. This grant would provide additional focused resources for maintenance of the standards. Another significant challenge for the Feed Program is in providing the travel funds necessary to send inspectors to training. This cooperative agreement would significantly increase our ability to develop an inspection staff trained in the Standard 2 curriculum, as well as PCs and CGMPs.</p>