Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA FD 17 007
The grant opportunity titled "Advancing Conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (VNRFRPS) (U18)" is a discretionary funding program offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is structured as a cooperative agreement, which generally means the FDA expects to have ongoing involvement with awardees during the project period rather than simply issuing funds and stepping back. The core purpose of the opportunity is to strengthen the national retail food safety system by helping state, local, and tribal retail food regulatory programs move toward conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards, commonly called the Retail Program Standards or VNRFRPS.
At a practical level, the VNRFRPS are a set of nationally recognized benchmarks for how a retail food regulatory program should be operated and managed. They are designed to improve consistency, quality, and effectiveness in how jurisdictions regulate retail food establishments such as restaurants, grocery stores, delis, and other food retail and food service operations. The standards emphasize reducing the specific risk factors that are known to cause or contribute to foodborne illness, and they promote the idea of "active managerial control," meaning food establishments and regulators focus on preventing problems through systems and management practices rather than relying only on finding violations after the fact.
The intended outcome of the funding opportunity is to advance efforts toward a nationally integrated food safety system. In other words, the FDA is trying to support a more coordinated and compatible approach across many jurisdictions, where retail food programs are better aligned in how they train staff, conduct inspections, respond to foodborne illness and outbreaks, verify compliance, and use data to guide program decisions. By supporting conformance with the VNRFRPS, the FDA is aiming for improvements in the infrastructure and capacity of retail food regulatory programs, not just short-term activities.
Funding under this opportunity is meant to help regulatory programs develop, implement, and improve the internal building blocks needed to meet the VNRFRPS. That can include strengthening program procedures, improving training and quality assurance, standardizing inspection and enforcement approaches, enhancing performance measurement, and generally building the systems that allow a program to demonstrate it meets the national standards. The language of the announcement makes clear that the focus is on retail food regulatory program operations and management, with the broader public health goal of reducing foodborne illness risk factors across the retail environment.
Eligible applicants include state governments, county governments, and city or township governments, as well as federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments. This eligibility list reflects the reality that retail food regulation is often carried out by a mix of state, local, and tribal entities, and that improving national integration requires strengthening programs across all those levels.
Administratively, the opportunity was published under Funding Opportunity Number RFA FD 17 007 and is associated with CFDA number 93.103. The announcement was created on March 15, 2017, with an original closing date of May 15, 2017. The award ceiling listed is $70,000 per award, and the FDA expected to make approximately 33 awards. The activity category is described as Agriculture, Consumer Protection, Food and Nutrition, which matches the food safety and consumer protection focus of retail food regulation.
Overall, this grant opportunity is best understood as targeted capacity-building support for governmental and tribal retail food regulatory programs. The money is intended to help them adopt and sustain the structures, policies, training, assessment practices, and quality systems needed to align with the VNRFRPS, thereby improving consistency and effectiveness in retail food safety regulation and contributing to a stronger, more integrated national approach to preventing foodborne illness.Apply for RFA FD 17 007
- The Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration in the agriculture, consumer protection, food and nutrition sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Advancing Conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (VNRFRPS) (U18)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.103.
- This funding opportunity was created on Mar 15, 2017.
- Applicants must submit their applications by May 15, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $70,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 33 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments).
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FAQs: Advancing Conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (VNRFRPS) (U18)
What is the title of this grant opportunity?
The opportunity is titled "Advancing Conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (VNRFRPS) (U18)."
Which federal agency is offering this funding?
This is a discretionary funding program offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
What type of funding mechanism is this (grant vs. cooperative agreement)?
The award is structured as a cooperative agreement. This generally indicates the FDA expects ongoing involvement with awardees during the project period, rather than simply awarding funds and stepping back.
What is the main purpose of the opportunity?
The core purpose is to strengthen the national retail food safety system by helping state, local, and tribal retail food regulatory programs move toward conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (VNRFRPS), also called the Retail Program Standards.
What are the VNRFRPS (Retail Program Standards)?
The VNRFRPS are nationally recognized benchmarks for how a retail food regulatory program should be operated and managed. They are designed to improve consistency, quality, and effectiveness in regulating retail food establishments.
What kinds of establishments are connected to these retail food standards?
The standards relate to jurisdictions that regulate retail food establishments such as restaurants, grocery stores, delis, and other food retail and food service operations.
What public health issue is this program trying to address?
The standards emphasize reducing specific risk factors known to cause or contribute to foodborne illness, with the broader goal of improving retail food safety regulation and reducing foodborne illness risk factors across the retail environment.
What does "active managerial control" mean in this context?
"Active managerial control" refers to focusing on preventing food safety problems through systems and management practices, rather than relying only on finding violations after the fact.
What outcomes is the FDA trying to achieve with this funding?
The intended outcome is to advance efforts toward a nationally integrated food safety system, supporting more coordinated and compatible approaches across jurisdictions and better alignment in how retail food programs operate.
What does a "nationally integrated food safety system" mean here?
It refers to a more coordinated and compatible approach across many jurisdictions, where programs are better aligned in training, inspections, responses to foodborne illness and outbreaks, compliance verification, and the use of data to guide program decisions.
Is this funding meant for short-term activities or longer-term capacity building?
The focus is on building infrastructure and capacity within retail food regulatory programs, not just short-term activities. The goal is to help programs adopt and sustain systems needed to align with the VNRFRPS.
What kinds of activities can the funding support?
Funding is meant to help regulatory programs develop, implement, and improve internal building blocks needed to meet the VNRFRPS. Examples described include strengthening procedures, improving training and quality assurance, standardizing inspection and enforcement approaches, enhancing performance measurement, and building systems that allow a program to demonstrate it meets national standards.
Is the focus on food businesses directly or on government/tribal regulatory programs?
The focus is on retail food regulatory program operations and management (governmental and tribal programs), with a broader public health goal of reducing foodborne illness risk factors in the retail environment.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligible applicants include state governments, county governments, and city or township governments, as well as federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments.
Why are state, local, and tribal entities included as eligible applicants?
The eligibility reflects that retail food regulation is carried out by a mix of state, local, and tribal entities, and that strengthening national integration requires improving programs at all those levels.
What is the Funding Opportunity Number (FON)?
The Funding Opportunity Number is RFA FD 17 007.
What CFDA number is associated with this opportunity?
The opportunity is associated with CFDA number 93.103.
When was the announcement created?
The announcement was created on March 15, 2017.
What was the original closing date for applications?
The original closing date listed was May 15, 2017.
What is the maximum amount of funding per award?
The award ceiling listed is $70,000 per award.
How many awards did the FDA expect to make?
The FDA expected to make approximately 33 awards.
What activity category is this opportunity listed under?
The activity category is described as Agriculture, Consumer Protection, Food and Nutrition.
What is this opportunity in plain terms?
It is targeted capacity-building support for governmental and tribal retail food regulatory programs, intended to help them build and sustain structures, policies, training, assessment practices, and quality systems that align with the VNRFRPS and strengthen the national retail food safety system.
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