A safer food supply

FDA Consumer, Nov-Dec, 2004

Federal and state agencies have announced a new collaboration to protect the nation's food supply from contamination. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the FDA, and the Department of Homeland Security signed an agreement with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture in September 2004. This agreement will improve federal-state response plans for food and agricultural emergencies.

For the first phase of the project, a group of federal, state, and local officials will gather information about how food and agricultural safety should be handled within the various states. During the second phase, the group will develop an interagency response plan and conduct exercises to test and refine it. Phase three, which will conclude by June 2005, involves developing guidelines on how federal agencies will assist local response and recovery efforts.

For more information about food security, visit the FDA's Web page at www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fsterr.html.>

COPYRIGHT 2004 U.S. Government Printing Office

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