Conformance with the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS) Proposal Abstract The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) is seeking funding to support the agency's Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS) Implementation and Continuation Project. The VDACS Food Safety & Security Program meets all requirements to be eligible for this funding. The program serves as the state's manufactured food regulatory program and has a current food safety inspection contract with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Food Safety & Security Program received funding from 2009-2013 as a part of the FDA Rapid Response Team and Program Infrastructure Prototype Project. Utilizing those funds the Program began the process of conducting a MFRPS self assessment, developing an improvement plan, and designing strategic goals meant to address identified gaps in our assessment. Currently the program has achieved complete conformance with Standards 7, 8, 9, and 10 and substantial conformance with Standards 2, 3, and 5. Standards 1, 4 and 6 are currently listed as only partially implemented. Funding provided by this cooperative agreement will be utilized to support program staff tasked with the development of procedures and practices designed to address identified Program gaps to complete conformance with all ten of the MFRPS. This work will include but is not limited to the creation of specific procedures for conducting manufacturing inspections, the development and documentation of quality assurance procedures for the State manufactured foods program, review of state laws and regulations, and implementation of advanced tools designed to track and monitor performance and implementation of compliance procedures throughout the Office of Dairy and Foods All work completed under this funding will be reviewed for applicability to other local, state, and federal programs and when appropriate will be provided to FDA Standards Implementation Staff for distribution to other interested parties.
Conformance with the Manufacture Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS) Project Narrative Funding provided to support the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' (VDACS) proposal 'Development of Strategies to Achieve and Maintain Compliance with the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards' will be utilized to enable Virginia to continue the significant work already completed by the State program to adopt procedures and develop capability to not only satisfy the requirements of the Standards but also to develop a Manufactured Foods Program that is an effective and reliable part of a national integrated food safety system. Funding provided under this new cooperative agreement will allow the Food Safety & Security Program to enhance the work already completed in relation to the Standards and to develop new and unique strategies to address gaps identified in our program. As these gaps are addressed and the State program develops new technologies and methods for collecting, cataloging, and analyzing the data central to the complete implementation of each of the MFRPS, every effort will be made to identify materials and procedures that could be utilized by other programs enrolled in the Standards. In this manner we are hopeful that the efforts undertaken by VDACS will be applicable and useful in easing the adoption of the Standards in new programs and in addressing gaps identified in other agencies. The ultimate goal of the research project proposed by VDACS, is to ensure that the Manufacture Foods Program in Virginia meets or exceeds the requirements of the MFRPS and that once conformance is achieved the processes and procedures developed by Virginia to address issues such as collection of audit data, management of employee training, and food safety/security response efforts will become useful tools to other programs looking to adopt the Standards or to increase their compliance in specific areas.
