The overall project consists of 2 parts. The first is to attain full compliance with the AFRPS and the second is to get the State of Iowa's laboratory ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. Achieving these two parts will also help us to maintain and develop best practices, enhance feed safety, and better direct regulatory activities. 1. AFRPS Compliance: The Commercial Feed and Fertilizer Bureau anticipates participation in this cooperative agreement will result in significant enhancement in the quality of inspections and inspectors for Iowa's manufactured feed facilities. This will be obtained by the following: The State will achieve and sustain significant to full conformance with the Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards (AFRPS); The State has and will continue to actively engage through an annual face-to face meeting and participation in committees supporting AFRPS; The State has and will collaboratively develop strategies and share those strategies with other states; The State will provide FDA the foundation for pursuing regulatory action based upon the findings of State manufactured food regulatory programs; and The State will seek to further enhance its capability to protect public health through development and implementation of Standard Enhancement Projects. 2. ISO/IEC 17025 Accreditation: ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation attests to the implementation and correct use of a quality management system, the ability of a laboratory to perform certain tasks, and to the quality of the test results. Regulatory agencies can use data from accredited laboratories to respond immediately and protect the safety of the feed supply. The IDALS laboratory will prepare for accreditation by performing a gap analysis, implementing changes to develop a Quality Management System (QMS) that meets ISO/IEC 17025:2005 requirements, and documenting the QMS in a Quality Manual. After accreditation is achieved, IDALS will create a plan to improve, enhance, and sustain the QMS and laboratory accreditation. IDALS accreditation will increase the FDA's analytical capacity, generate data that is immediately enforceable, and increase food security. In short, IDALS accreditation will advance an integrated feed safety system that is effective and efficient. The goal of this project is to attain full conformance to AFRPS and ISO 17025. At minimum, absent major unforeseen difficulties, significant conformance with AFRPS will be attained.
Our focus is to implement the Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards (AFRPS) by developing policies and procedures, strengthening collaborations, and conducting program self- assessment to reach significant conformance with the standards. This will help the Commercial Feed and Fertilizer Bureau to protect public health by having policies and procedures in place resulting in a high quality animal feeds regulatory program. The second portion of this grant will be used to achieve ISO/IEC 17025:2005 laboratory accreditation for the Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship in order to increase the analytical capacity of the FDA, allow quicker response by regulatory agencies in the event of an emergency, and enhance efforts to protect the animal feed supply, therefore protecting the lives of the animals and those who consume animal products.
