Development and Maintenance of the Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards

The mission of the Office of Indiana State Chemist (OISC) is to protect the public consumer, livestock and pets, and manufacturers/producers from: Falsely represented and otherwise misrepresented feed, fertilizer, seed, and pesticide products in the marketplace; misuse of feed, fertilizer, seed or pesticides such that these

may cause disease or harm to persons or animals, or unacceptably disturb the environment. This mission is accomplished by assuring truth in labeling for feed, fertilizer, seed, and pesticide products offered in Indiana commerce; by requiring training of identified users and handlers of these materials; and by regulating products

and persons to gain compliance with Indiana and federal laws that have been assigned to OISC. OISC may involve legal remedies (fines and penalties) 1) to secure an expectation of safety in the purchase of feed, fertilizer, seed, and pesticide products marketed in Indiana for consumers, and therein, provide protection for

pets or livestock; 2) to ensure responsible use of these same products through labeling and educating the user to gain compliance; and 3) to actively support an integrated food safety system and contribute to improving the Indiana environment. The primary objective of our proposal is to further develop, implement, and sustain

Indiana's best practices for a quality regulatory program to enhance animal feed and food safety. This would entail the strengthening of interagency collaboration, cooperation, and communication; achievement and sustainment of compliance with the Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards (AFRPS); enhancement of

coordination and interactions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other states' feed inspection programs. Under this proposal we are requesting $300,000 annually in grant funds for the next five years. Grant funds will be used to augment current animal feed inspection program capabilities and provide the

necessary infrastructure to continue further development and sustainment of AFRPS. Time of one full-time equivalent (FTE) employee, travel necessary for collaboration and innovation, and some laboratory equipment and supplies will enable enhancements to the program's ability to conduct high-quality inspections and

investigations to reduce the incidence of animal feed contamination and ultimately foodborne illness associated adulterated animal feed material/supply facilities.