Georgia Department of Agriculture Project Title: Maintenance of the Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards and the Coordinated Preventive Control Regulatory Activities and Capacity Building Project Period: September 1, 2020 – February 16, 2022 Project Summary The Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards (AFRPS) establish a uniform foundation for the design and management of State programs responsible for the regulation of animal feed. The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) will continue collaborative efforts for the advancement of an integrated animal food safety system based on mutual reliance and shared responsibility with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other state partners and stakeholders. The overall objective of this project is full implementation of the AFRPS Maintenance Phase Track and conducting regulatory work while promoting compliance with the Preventive Controls for Animal Food (PCAF) regulation. Our overarching goal as a state regulatory authority is to reduce the risk-factors that are known to cause or contribute to illnesses in animal and humans in firms that manufacture, process, pack, or hold animal food materials. Objectives for this project include the following: a) demonstrating the ability to develop and/or maintain implementation of a comprehensive improvement plan that will results in full implementation of the AFRPS and continued maintenance of the AFRPS; b) expanding the Auditing Program by moving toward implementing Phase II audits and collecting audit data on full-scope PCAF inspections; c) demonstrating the availability of adequately trained staff and the criteria and ability to hire and/or train personnel to meet the goals and outputs of the cooperative agreement; d) providing a properly detailed budget that is intended to achieve implementation and maintenance of the AFRPS; e) developing an outreach plan and associated materials related to the PCAF regulation and compliance and other FSMA related rules as part of GDA’s overall outreach plan; f) demonstrating the ability to fully participate in initiative supporting the AFRPS, such as a required annual face-to-face meeting and any required training for this project, committees, conference calls, sharing best practices, annual visits, and verification audits; and g) meeting with FDA as necessary to develop/monitor working planning progress for dual inspected facilities to advance information sharing, firm reconciliation, and enforcement action between Georgia and FDA. By achieving and maintaining implementation of these program Standards, GDA and FDA can better direct their regulatory activities toward preventing animal food safety hazards that can cause illness or injury to animal or humans in facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold animal food materials.