PAR-20-105: Discipline A - Microbiology - Track 3: Animal Food Product Testing Project Summary The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) Food Safety and Consumer Services (FS&CS) Laboratory is the State?s Primary Regulatory Animal Food Safety Laboratory. The WSDA FS&CS Laboratory seeks five years of funding through the FDA Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (LFFM) Cooperative Agreement Program?s Discipline A Microbiology Track 3 to enhance the capacity and capabilities of state animal food testing laboratory in support of an integrated food safety system. ? The WSDA FS&CS Laboratory has all the required technical expertise (prohibited materials (BSE), filth, pathogen, toxin etc.) in testing and sampling under this analytical track; conducts an average of 20,000 individual tests on over 8,000 food, feed, environmental and dairy samples under our state directed food safety program. ? Is eligible to apply for this cooperative agreement program since we have received funding under the FDA AFRPS MCAP and BSE grant. ? Has a long-standing collaboration with WSDA Animal Feed Program?s samplers. For over 10 years these samplers have demonstrated competence in aseptic sampling techniques and adherence to the strict sampling guidelines of FDA and/or USDA. ? Provides testing support under WSDA?s FDA-funded RRT Cooperative Agreement and has responded to multiple Washington State animal food poisoning and labeling cases. ? Has the necessary space to continue supporting the additional work associated with this project. ? Is located in a strategic geographic area of the United States. Washington State is home to several major international shipping ports, through which nearly $16 billion in food and agricultural products were exported in 2018. The Port of Seattle, the state?s largest city and port, is the gateway port for all Asian and Canadian trade. ? Has been accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005-2017 since 2011 and also received FDA ISO funding support in the past 9 years. If our Track 3 proposal is accepted, we are willing and able to do the following: 1. Participate in animal food sample collection and analysis (500+) 2. Provide analytical data for potential regulatory utilization Washington State Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Consumer Services Laboratory
