National Association Grant: Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards Funding System

National organization/associations whose membership includes, but is not necessarily limited to, State, local, territorial, and/or tribal retail food safety regulators.

Competition is limited to these national organizations/associations for the following reasons:

1. National organizations/associations with membership that includes, but is not necessarily limited to, State, local, territorial, and/or tribal retail food regulatory jurisdictions will have the relationships and communication systems to effectively promote the funding opportunities being made available under this cooperative agreement. This cooperative agreement is a new method for distributing funds of $25,000 or less to retail food regulatory programs for advancement of the VNRFRPS. Therefore, a strong communications platform to both educate potential applicants and receive feedback will be critical to the success of this project.

2. These national organizations/associations have a vested interest and share FDA’s visions to advance the VNRFRPS and improve public health outcomes. They are also knowledgeable of the VNRFRPS and the requirements to achieve conformance. These national organizations can best collaborate with FDA as the funding management system is developed, such as identifying the criteria for selecting subawardees and monitoring project progress.

3. These national organizations/associations can provide a platform for sharing and national implementation of the projects pursued by the subawardees through national and regional meetings, web site, listervs, and other communications to retail food regulatory programs. Most national associations/organizations also have committees that may further advance the projects pursued by the subawardees.