Building an Integrated Laboratory System to Advance the Safety of Food and Animal Feed (U18)

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is issued to announce the availability of a cooperative agreement to be awarded under a Limited Competition. The goal of this FDA/ORA Cooperative Agreement Program is to facilitate long-term improvements to the national food and animal feed safety system by strengthening multi-disciplinary laboratory collaboration and equivalency. The advancement of ISO/IEC 17025:2005 laboratory accreditation for food and animal feed regulatory laboratories is a foundational component of building an integrated laboratory system for the advancement of public health. In addition, the provision of funding will establish a formal platform to build an integrated laboratory community consisting of State and local food regulatory laboratories and regulatory program managers. The laboratory community will advance the sharing, equivalency, and acceptability of laboratory results in support of public health goals. Effective leveraging of resources and harmonization of efforts will require collaboration with relevant initiatives, including those of federal partners, national initiatives and associations, State, and local partners.