Path B Continued Development and Implementation of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Produce Safety Program

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Project Summary/Abstract The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) is applying for Path B, Regulatory Funding Band 4 and Education and Inventory Funding Band 6 of PAR-21-174 to continue the development and implementation of the FSMA Produce Safety Rule (PSR) among PA’s produce farms. Under FDA authority, PDA educates, regulates and enforces the Produce Safety Rule under 21 CFR Part 112 and the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This project is designed to encourage the safe production of fresh produce and promote understanding and compliance with the requirements of the PSR. Inspections are conducted following the NASDA/FDA guidance document Standardized Approach to Produce Farm Inspections. Program development, infrastructure and implementation were major components of the previous 5-year Cooperative Agreement and PA continues to build on this previous work to align with the expectations within the new Cooperative Agreement. PA will provide opportunities for outreach, education and technical assistance on the PSR to produce farms. The goal is to provide outreach, education and/or technical assistance to 5,294 produce farms in Pennsylvania by June 30, 2026. Moreover, the target is to conduct 150 OFRR visits in year 1. We plan to have a complete verified inventory of produce farms in PA by June 30, 2026. We aim to develop a complete and accurate farm inventory of 6,214 verified produce farms by June 30, 2026. We plan to complete initial inspections of our verified large and small covered farms during the 2021 growing season. Initial inspections of very small farms began in January of 2021 and will continue throughout the upcoming funding period. According to the target expectations set in PAR-21-174, our goal is to conduct routine inspections equal to 20% of the current non-exempt covered produce farms in Pennsylvania on an annual basis. Information sharing with FDA will continue for purposes of the Compliance and Enforcement Program. We also plan to communicate and deploy, when needed, produce safety staff for all produce related incidents as part of our Produce Related Event Response Planning and Implementation Program. Overall, the funding from PAR-21-174 will focus on quality and national consistency to ensure the Department is protecting the public health of consumers by minimizing the risk of foodborne illness associated with produce covered under the Produce Safety Rule.