Summary

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) Office of Animal Health and Food Safety received $200,000 in Cooperative Agreement funding from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Food and Drug Administration Research program (CFDA 93.103), effective September 20, 2025 through June 30, 2028. The award supports the continued implementation and maintenance of the Animal Food Regulatory Program Standards (AFRPS) and expansion of mutual reliance initiatives with the FDA. LDAF will maintain its inspection program by conducting FDA contract inspections and increasing non-contract inspections in accordance with Compliance Program Guidance Manual 7371.000, applying risk-based principles and adhering to Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP) and Preventive Controls for Animal Feed (PCAF) requirements.

Key deliverables include providing risk-categorized firm inventories to support FDA work planning, participating in work-sharing and data-sharing initiatives, enhancing regulatory data sharing capabilities to support a unified regulatory framework, and collaborating with the LDAF Agricultural Chemistry Laboratory to collect official samples for timely laboratory analysis. The program achieved full AFRPS implementation verified by FDA audit in February 2024 and is preparing for its next scheduled audit in May 2025. These activities advance animal food safety through effective regulatory oversight, collaborative planning, and strengthened federal-state integration.