Maintenance of the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) Rapid Response Program

RFA-FD-23-019- Development and Maintenance of Human and Animal Food Rapid Response Teams (U2F) Project Summary The objective of this multi-component project is to support a nationally integrated human and animal food (HAF) safety system through the maintenance of the Washington State Rapid Response Team (RRT) from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026. The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) plans to continue the use of the RRT to better unify responses by public health agencies to human and animal food illness outbreaks. The WSDA also plans to continue its conformity with current and future revisions of the RRT milestones/3-years plan, and the related Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS). In addition to maintaining the core regulatory and response requirements that have been established through MFRPS and RRT, WSDA plans to continue its efforts to identify and strengthen integral professional relationships between HAF safety partners including Federal, state, local, and tribal stakeholders. These stakeholders represent industries and skills such as agriculture, public health, regulatory, laboratory, academia, and emergency response. Through a multi-modal approach, WSDA anticipates the ability to contribute to an integrated food/feed safety system in a standardized and efficient manner to better protect the public health of Washingtonians and the U.S. population.