Food Safety Preventive Controls and Produce Safety Standards: Building Competency in Latin America in Support of the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act

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ABSTRACT – IICA FSMA proposal The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) proposes to use a combination of lead instructor training, strategic workshops, webinars, and network strengthening to reduce risks associated with importing food into the United States. In partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Produce Safety and the Preventive Controls Alliances and other strategic partners, a diverse group of stakeholders, including FDA regulatory counterparts, academia, and industry representatives, will receive training in preventive controls for human foods, produce safety, and other key FSMA rules. Country-specific case studies will augment and buttress official alliance curricula and allow trainees to apply learning in a relevant, practical manner. Beyond training, strategic workshops will provide an opportunity for regulators from target countries to address specific technical issues through official Alliance training materials. Webinars will augment training and strategic workshops by providing the food safety community with technical resources they need to maintain and continue their education. In addition to these three components, IICA proposes to strengthen communication and cohesion by leveraging investments made by the Preventative Controls and Produce Safety Alliances. Specifically, IICA plans to work with both Alliances to ensure that Latin American trainees have access to translated versions of relevant communications and materials. We see real value in using the networks developed during training programs to promote information sharing and cohesion within and between countries. In this way, we foresee a strengthening of the food safety community across the Americas. Through these interventions, IICA will develop a Cadre of Food Safety Experts in key exporting countries, with the goal of decreasing risks associated with non-compliant food products entering the United States. IICA will measure success by evaluating the outcomes and impact of all activities conducted under this project and will make programming adjustments as needed.