Retail Food Safety Regulatory Association Collaboration

The Food and Drug Administration is soliciting applications for cooperative agreements to advance retail food safety initiatives and reduce foodborne illness, with applications due July 14, 2026. The funding opportunity is limited to national nonprofit membership organizations or associations representing state, local, territorial, and tribal retail food regulatory programs or retail food and foodservice industries; applicants must hold or obtain an information sharing agreement with FDA under 21 CFR 20.88(e). The FDA will award up to three cooperative agreements, each not exceeding $750,000 in total costs, with one year of initial funding and potential for two additional years of non-competitive support contingent on performance and appropriations. Total available funding is $2,250,000 for fiscal year 2026.

Program objectives center on five focus areas: maintaining and expanding FDA Food Code adoption support; increasing use of risk-based inspections and intervention strategies; promoting the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards; improving foodborne outbreak investigation methods; and increasing food safety management systems with active managerial controls in restaurants and retail establishments. Applicants must demonstrate ability to develop toolkits and educational materials, possess technical knowledge of VNRFRPS and FDA Food Code, conduct research on intervention strategies, develop effective communication strategies, and collaborate with national initiatives and qualified personnel.

Applications consist of a one-page project abstract and a 30-page project narrative, plus an unrestricted budget narrative and a Data Management and Sharing Plan. Evaluation uses FDA's objective review system with four scored criteria: Significance (30 points), Investigator(s) (15 points), Cooperation and Collaboration (25 points), and Approach (30 points). Recipients must submit initial, mid-year, and annual Research Performance Progress Reports detailing progress on project milestones, personnel activities, expenditures, and collaboration efforts with FDA and stakeholders. A letter of intent is due June 12, 2026. Assistance Listing 93.103.