Wisconsin?s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) requests $640,000 for each of the next five years, to maintain and enhance MFRPS conformance, build and maintain a Rapid Response Team (RRT), carry out Mutual Reliance practices and projects, and create a Food Protection Task Force. The efforts undertaken as part of this Cooperative Agreement will further increase the capacity of Wisconsin?s food safety regulatory program to protect public health and safeguard the food supply. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) developed the MFRPS program as a tool to promote uniformity and cooperation among federal, state and local agencies responsible for regulating manufactured food establishments. Developing Wisconsin?s RRT will enhance Wisconsin?s ability to detect, respond and abate human and animal food emergencies through a coordinated response utilizing the Incident Command System as an organizational structure. Wisconsin views the RRT as an essential component of a nationally integrated food safety regulatory system. The framework provided by the RRT will allow Wisconsin to establish a coordinated response program to reduce hazards in human and animal food firms and markets. The Bureau of Food and Recreational Businesses first enrolled in the MFRPS program in 2007 as one of five states to pilot the standards. The Bureau completed an initial baseline assessment, developed a strategic improvement plan, and participated in an FDA Program Assessment Validation Audit (PAVA). In 2012 the Bureau participated in its 36-month PAVA, and at its 60-month audit in 2014, Wisconsin was found in full conformance with all 10 Standards (2013 version). In 2016, at the 84-month audit, FDA auditors found room for improvement in Standard 2, training records. Since then the Bureau has implemented the additional requirements of the 2016 MFRPS and self-assesses as in full implementation. An integrated food safety system will promote consistent application of regulations and effective communication between federal, state and local partners. Wisconsin has been a voluntary (unfunded) RRT since April 2015. This five--year cooperative agreement will allow Wisconsin to continue its efforts to implement its strategic improvement plan to achieve, maintain and enhance full-conformance with the standards, become a fully- functioning RRT state, continue processes of integration and mutual reliance, and meaningfully involve industry in efforts to operationalize an improved risk-categorization of our establishment inventory and corresponding license fee structure. All project goals, milestones, objectives and required deliverables for the four components of this cooperative agreement have been incorporated into its Strategic Improvement Plan. Highlights of planned activities include: ? Maintaining and expanding our quality assurance system to include mutual reliance activities and evaluation of RRT responses. ? Improving information management, document control and record-keeping by implementing document control procedures via SharePoint, improved mechanisms for mutual reliance data exchange and better reporting and tracking training, particularly field training. ? Incorporating an improved risk categorization into our inspections and licensing system and gaining industry support for license fees commensurate with risk, thereby securing more resources for our program In addition, Wisconsin will actively participate in MFRPS and RRT meetings, training, and audits to share information with other regulatory agencies.
Several recent high-profile multi-state foodborne illness outbreaks highlighted the need for federal, state and local food safety agencies to work together to prevent and respond to threats to the nation?s food supply. FDA developed the Flexible Funding Model Cooperative Agreement Program to combine several initiatives aimed at strengthening states abilities to protect public health by working together with Federal Agencies, local health departments and other states. Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards, Rapid Response Teams, Special Projects/mutual reliance and Food Protection Task Forces are all tools for promoting consistency and cooperation between federal and state agencies responsible for protecting the nations? food supply and public health. The outcome of implementing this cooperative agreement in Wisconsin will be to advance efforts for a nationally integrated food safety system (IFSS) in Wisconsin.
