Goal/Purpose: The AFRPS Cooperative Agreement will provide funding for State feed regulatory programs that maintain a FDA feed safety inspection contract to develop and implement the standards; develop and maintain best practices; enhance feed safety; and better direct their regulatory activities at reducing foodborne illness attributed to feed safety hazards in facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold animal feed materials and supplies). Standard 10 of the AFRPS requires that the State program have access to a laboratory that supports regulatory functions. The program and laboratory are required to prepare a sample analysis schedule that includes the type(s) of feed to be analyzed, number of samples to be collected, estimated time frame for collection, and type(s) of analysis to be performed.
Leading Agency: FDA
Funding: RFA-FD​-24-035​ (2024 – 2029)
Goal/Purpose: Established in 2016, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC)AR Lab Network is comprised of the National Tuberculosis Molecular Surveillance Center (National TB Center) and regional, state, territorial and local public health laboratories. the network tracks changes in resistance and helps identify and respond to outbreaks faster. All 50 states, five large cities, and Puerto Rico provide complex antimicrobial testing, including testing for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and perform whole genome sequencing on all Salmonella isolates. The Salmonella testing builds on the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria (NARMS). APHL supports the AR Lab Network with communications, fellowships and liaison with public health and laboratory partners.
Lead Agency: CDC
Funding: ELC
Goal/Purpose: Launched by CDC in 2009, CaliciNet is a national norovirus outbreak surveillance network of federal, state, and local public health laboratories that collects information on norovirus strains associated with gastroenteritis outbreaks in the US. Certified public health laboratories submit laboratory data, including genetic sequences of norovirus strains along with epidemiology data. These strains can be compared to other strains in the database, helping CDC in their efforts to link outbreaks to a common source, monitor norovirus strains that are circulating, and detect and identify newly emerging norovirus strains. CaliciNet includes several CaliciNet Outbreak Support Centers and three laboratories that serve as Unexplained Viral Diarrhea Outbreak Support Centers.
Lead Agency: CDC
Funding: ELC
Goal/Purpose: FDA CORE was created to manage not just outbreak response, but surveillance and post-response activities related to incidents involving multiple illnesses linked to FDA-regulated human food, dietary supplements, and cosmetic products. With CORE, FDA brought together expertise in medicine, public health and science to coordinate its efforts to find, stop, and prevent foodborne illness outbreaks.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: N/A
Goal/Purpose: CI​FOR is a multidisciplinary collaboration of national associations and federal agencies working together since 2006 to improve methods at the local, state and federal levels for investigating, controlling, and preventing foodborne disease outbreaks.
Lead Agency: N/A
Funding: N/A
Goal/Purpose: CryptoNet was developed in response to the inability of traditional clinical diagnostics to distinguish Cryptosporidium species, genotypes, and subtypes and increased national reporting of cryptosporidiosis. CryptoNet is the molecular tracking system for a parasitic infection. CryptoNet is a multidisciplinary, molecular-based surveillance system that facilitates real-time sharing of molecular epidemiology data among US national, state and local public health departments.
Lead Agency: CDC
Funding: ELC
Goal/Purpose: TheELC program provides state, local and territorial health department grantees with the financial and technical resources to build and strengthen epidemiology, laboratory and health information systems capacity in state and local health departments. ELC-funded activities are divided into four compatible, cross-cutting public health programs (e.g. cross-cutting epidemiology and laboratory capacity; foodborne, waterborne, enteric, and environmentally transmitted diseases program, healthcare-acquired infections and antibiotic resistance program, and vector-borne diseases) while retaining the ability for recipients to work on discrete projects important to the health and wellness of their populations (e.g. mycotic disease, Legionella, parasitic disease, rabies).
Lead Agency: CDC
Funding: CDC-RFA-CK-24-0002 (2024-2029)
Goal/Purpose: The goal of the National Pesticide Program, consistent with FIFRA, is to assure that pesticides are made available for use and are properly sold, distributed and used in a way that is protective of human health and the environment. The FIFRA cooperative agreements provide funding and support to laboratories performing the testing.
Lead Agency: EPA
Funding: Available, contact EPA for more information
FSIS Food Defense
Goal/Purpose: FERN integrates the nation's food-testing laboratories at the local, state, and federal levels into a network that is able to respond to emergencies involving biological, chemical, or radiological contamination of food.
The FSIS FERN Cooperative Agreement program provides FSIS food defense capacity and supports the agency's mission of food safety in the event of a national emergency. Any or all of the CAP initiatives may allow the selected laboratories to provide surge capacity testing for food defense events and special project testing for food defense and/or food safety topics. Laboratories will be involved in on-going testing of food matrices for food defense analytes, method development, method validation, and special directed projects that meet FSIS food safety needs.
Lead Agency: USDA
Funding: FSIS-FERN-03142024 (2024-2029)
Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (LFFM)
The FDA FERN Cooperative Agreement program (through the Laboratory Flexible Funding Model) provides increased national capability and capacity by awarding funds to selected State member laboratories to establish harmonized methods and analytical platform performance standards; develop, validate, and implement new analytical methods to meet FERN needs; perform surveillance of food hazard/commodity pairs; and establish other laboratory operations and protocols that support data confidence. These projects and assignments utilize the laboratories to increÂÂÂÂase national capability and capacity for responding to national food safety and security events and to serve as first responders during food emergencies.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: LFFM
Goal/Purpose: The objective of this cooperative agreement is to advance a nationally integrated food safety system (IFSS) by supporting state Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS), Rapid Response Teams (RRT), Food Protection Task Force (FPTF) programs, and related special projects. State regulatory agencies receiving the FFM award may partner with appropriate state supporting laboratories to develop a mutually acceptable sampling plans and for the collection of samples (FDA regulated products only) to support FFM goals and laboratory capacity development and product surveillance. FFM funds may be used if appropriate to support both regulatory and laboratory needs.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: RFA-FD-23-027​ (2023-2028)
Goal/Purpose: FoodCORE centers work together to develop better methods to detect, investigate, respond to, and control multistate outbreaks of foodborne diseases. Efforts are primarily focused on outbreaks caused by bacteria, including Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), and Listeria monocytogenes. FoodCORE also strengthens the ability to detect and investigate viral and parasitic foodborne disease outbreaks. Ten centers participate, covering about 18% of the US population.
Lead Agency: CDC
Funding: ELC
Goal/Purpose: Established in 1996, Food​Net is a collaborative program among CDC, several state health departments, the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), and FDA. FoodNet conducts population-based active surveillance for laboratory-confirmed infections caused by several bacterial and parasitic pathogens, generating information used to guide and monitor food safety efforts.
Lead Agency: CDC
Funding: ELC
Goal/Purpose: A Food Protection Task Force (FPTF) consists of regulatory, industry, academia and consumer groups and promotes collaboration and integration between food protection stakeholders. The FPTFs assist in the adopting or implementing the FDA Food Code or other food regulations. The FPTFs are a critical and effective tool for protecting public health.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: FFM
Goal/Purpose: The GenomeT​rakr network consists of public health and university laboratories that collect and share genomic and geographic data from foodborne pathogens. The data, which are housed in public databases at the National Center for Biotechnology Information, can be accessed by researchers and public health officials for real-time comparison and analysis that can speed foodborne illness outbreak investigations and reduce foodborne illnesses and death.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: LFFM
Goal/Purpose: The Milk Safet​y Cooperative Program, through a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS), provides assistance to state and local regulatory agencies in the prevention of communicable diseases and the implementation and enforcement of regulations related to the production and distribution of Grade "A" milk and milk products for human consumption. The Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO), FDA and NCIMS have partnered to provide State Cooperative Program Grants to state or territorial (Puerto Rico) agencies that have the regulatory authority or that provide a state laboratory service to implement the Grade "A" Milk Safety Program.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: Subawards through AFDO
Goal/Purpose: This competency-based training Laboratory Curriculum Fra​mework is intended to standardize the knowledge of laboratory professionals performing regulatory human and animal food testing. A workgroup of subject-matter experts developed the framework based on the core competencies needed to perform the laboratory testing effectively. The goals of this Cooperative Agreement are to continue the development of the IFSS National Curriculum Standard (NCS) curriculum frameworks for regulatory stakeholders with the capacity to expand into other program areas as directed; further work and research on the development and validation of competency statements; and revise, develop and deliver courses to FDA stakeholders nationwide (other federal, state, local, tribal and territorial regulators). All of these activities are intended to help ensure the appropriate training of regulatory stakeholders.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: RFA-FD-20-024 (2020-2025)
Goal/Purpose: The AFRPS Cooperative Agreement provides funding for State feed regulatory programs that maintain a FDA feed safety inspection contract to develop and implement the AFRPS standards; develop and maintain best practices; enhance feed safety; and better direct their regulatory activities at reducing foodborne illness attributed to feed safety hazards in facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold animal feed materials and supplies). Standard 10 of the AFRPS requires that the State program have access to a laboratory that supports regulatory functions. The program and laboratory are required to prepare a sample analysis schedule that includes the type(s) of feed to be analyzed, number of samples to be collected, estimated time frame for collection, and type(s) of analysis to be performed.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: PAR-25-003
Goal/Purpose: The CoEs build capacity in food safety programs by developing and providing online and in-person resources, training and assistance for enteric disease surveillance and outbreak investigations. They serve as a resource for public health professionals at state, local and regional levels.
Lead Agency: CDC
Funding: ELC
Goal/Purpose: The Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (LFFM) cooperative agreement is intended to enhance the capacity and capabilities of state human and animal food testing laboratories in support of an integrated food safety system. Specifically, through sample testing in the areas of microbiology, chemistry, and radiochemistry, and the development special projects that would support and expand that testing. This project will strengthen and improve FDA's efforts to prevent foodborne illnesses and minimize foodborne exposures through building a nationally integrated laboratory science system and equip our partner laboratories with additional resources that can be employed to build and increase sample throughput capacity within their state.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: RFA-FD-25-007 (2025-2030)
Goal/Purpose: Established by CDC, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and APHL, the LRN's purpose is to run a network of laboratories that can respond to biological and chemical threats, emerging infectious diseases, chemical terrorism and other public health emergencies. This network includes state and local public health, veterinary, military and international labs. The LRN provides the laboratory infrastructure and capacity to respond to biological and chemical terrorism and other public health emergencies.
Lead Agency: CDC
Funding: ELC
Goal/Purpose: Part of the Animal Feed Network, LivestockNet is a reporting network for feed-related illnesses and product defects associated with livestock animals, aquaculture species, and horses. The network enables information-sharing among governmental and public health partners and facilitates early detection of animal feed and pet food-related incidents.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: N/A
Goal/ Purpose: The MFRPS Cooperative Agreement provides funding for State human food regulatory programs that maintain a FDA manufactured food safety inspection contract to develop, implement and maintain the MFRPS standards; develop and maintain best practices; enhance food safety; and better direct their regulatory activities at reducing foodborne illness attributed to manufactured food safety hazards in facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold food materials and supplies). Standard 10 of the MFRPS requires that the State program have access to a laboratory that supports regulatory functions. The regulatory program is required to partner with an appropriately accredited laboratory and collectively decide on a sampling plan and process that includes the type(s) of food to be analyzed, number of samples to be collected, estimated time frame for collection, and type(s) of analysis to be performed.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: FFM
Goal/Purpose: This cooperative agreement program intends to improve the detection of antibiotic resistance among bacteria in food commodities, as well as expand to new sites to expand the scope of sampling. It will enable the research data necessary to develop pre-approval safety evaluation of new animal antibiotics, determine parameters for the antimicrobial use in veterinary medicine, and assist public health actors to provide information to provide interventions to reduce resistance among foodborne bacteria.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: PAR-25-014 (2025-2030)
Goal/Purpose: The ORA DX is a PFP initiative that contributes to the development of the Integrated Food Safety System by enabling electronic sharing of food safety information and data between the FDA, public health agencies and various regulatory partners. The ORA Partners Portal (ORAPP) coupled with the National Food Safety Data Exchange (NFSDX) and other FDA systems provides partners with a web-based platform that supports bi-directional information exchange.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: LFFM
Goal/Purpose: The NSS​P is the federal/state cooperative program recognized by the FDA and the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC) for the sanitary control of shellfish produced and sold for human consumption. The NSSP helps keep molluscan shellfish safe for consumption by adhering to strict controls on their growing, harvesting, processing, packaging and transport. AFDO, FDA and NSSP have partnered to provide State Cooperative Program Grants to state or territorial (Puerto Rico) agencies that have the regulatory authority or that provide a state laboratory service to implement the National Shellfish Sanitation Program.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: Subawards through AFDO
Goal/Purpose: Established in 2012 ,N​oroSTAT is a collaborative network of several state health departments and CDC working together to establish and maintain standard practices for norovirus outbreak reporting to CDC surveillance systems. NoroSTAT improves timeliness, completeness and consistency of norovirus outbreak reporting. It enhances communication among epidemiologists and laboratorians in state health departments and CDC, enabling timely exchange of information regarding norovirus outbreak surveillance.
Lead Agency: CDC
Funding: ELC
Goal/Purpose: PE​TNet, part of the Animal Feed Network, is a secure, web based network that allows the exchange of information between FDA and other federal and state regulatory agencies about pet-food related incidents, such as illness associated with the consumption of pet food or pet food product defects. Using the shared information, state and federal agencies can work together to quickly determine what regulatory actions are needed to prevent or quickly limit adverse effects associated with pet food products.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: N/A
Goal/Purpose: PD​P is a national monitoring program managed by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service and implemented through state agriculture departments and other federal agencies. This program produces the most comprehensive pesticide residue database in the United States. The PDP administers the sampling, testing and reporting of pesticide residues on agricultural commodities in the US food supply, with an emphasis on those commodities highly consumed by infants and children.
Lead Agency: USDA
Funding: Available, contact USDA for more information
Goal/Purpose: The PFP IT Workgroup promotes data standards to improve the ability to share information electronically among strategic partners, including regulators, epidemiologists and laboratorians. The workgroup is developing the National Food Safety Data Exchange (NFSDX), which facilitates data exchange between the ORA Partners Portal (ORAPP) and the states.
Lead Agency: N/A
Funding: N/A
Goal/Purpose: The Laboratory Science Workgroup supports the PFP's goal of mutual reliance for a safer food supply. Comprised of federal, state and association partners, the workgroup creates resources that build confidence among stakeholders in the integrity and scientific validity of laboratory analytical data and facilitate acceptance of laboratory analytical data by regulatory agencies.
Lead Agency: N/A
Funding: N/A
Goal/Purpose: The PFP Training and Credentialing Workgroup provides input into the development of the NCS and certification programs for regulators that promote consistency and competency among the IFSS workforce. The workgroup participates in the development of credentialing programs that work in tandem with the NCS.
Lead Agency: N/A
Funding: N/A
Goal/Purpose: The PHEP coo​perative agreement is a critical source of funding for state, local, and territorial public health departments. Since 2002, the PHEP cooperative agreement has provided assistance to public health departments across the nation. This helps health departments and laboratories build and strengthen their abilities to effectively respond to a range of public health threats, including infectious diseases, natural disasters, and biological, chemical, nuclear, and radiological events.
Lead Agency: CDC
Funding: CDC-RFA-TU24-0137 (2024 – 2028)
Goal/Purpose: Launched in 1996, CDC PulseNet is a national laboratory network of public health and food regulatory laboratories designed to rapidly detect foodborne outbreaks. PulseNet has been used to compare DNA fingerprinting profiles to detect and define clusters of bacterial foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, and E. coli O157. Laboratorians are certified to participate in PulseNet. Laboratorians, epidemiologists and environmental health specialists in foodborne surveillance activities work together to identify outbreaks and determine causes of foodborne illness.
Lead Agency: CDC
Funding: ELC
Goal/Purpose: Sampl​eNet is a reporting network under FDA's Animal Feed Network intended to share violative animal feed and pet food laboratory samples considered adulterated by state and/or FDA statutes with commissioned officials. The network assists regulatory programs with surveillance, mitigation and work planning, increasing protection of the feed supply and the health of animals.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: N/A
Goal/Purpose: RR​Ts facilitate long-term improvements to the integrated food safety system by strengthening interagency collaboration and improving states' regulatory and surveillance protection programs for manufactured foods. This will be accomplished through the provision of funding for program improvement and will require extensive cooperation and coordination with FDA District Offices and other FDA program offices. Effective leveraging of resources and harmonization of efforts will require collaboration with relevant initiatives, including those of federal partners.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: RFA-FD-24-032​​
Goal/Purpose: The Vet-LIRN​ cooperative agreements are intended to build domestic laboratory capacity under the Food Safety and Modernization Act and develop Vet-LIRN laboratory capability and capacity to investigate potential animal foodborne illness outbreaks.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: PAR-23-202 (2023 - 2028)
Goal/Purpose: This opportunity aims to assist retail food regulatory programs and industry in reducing foodborne illness by implementing effective intervention strategies designed to reduce the occurrence of foodborne illness risk factors; implementing and achieving full conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (VNRFRPS); promoting use of risk-based inspection methods to effectively identify the occurrence of foodborne illness risk factors, conduct root cause analysis, assess gaps in industry active managerial control (AMC), and promote regulatory compliance; promoting adoption of the most recent version of the FDA Food Code; effectively responding to foodborne illness outbreaks; and responding to emerging food safety trends. The program is also intended to encourage the research, development, and implementation of industry food safety management systems and the prerequisite food safety culture necessary to achieve AMC of foodborne illness risk factors.
Lead Agency: FDA
Funding: RFA-FD-26-003 (2026 – 2028)
​Goal/Purpose: The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) have a Training Program that provides resources and training information to support regulatory animal food testing laboratory activities and initiatives. The program also provides funding for the development and execution of workshops, courses, webinars, and one-on-one trainings.​
Lead Agency: AAFCO
Funding: AAFCO