REGULATORY SCIENCE AND COMPETITIVENESS STRATEGIES IN THE GLOBAL FEED AND GRAIN INDUSTRY
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abstract
The increased focus on the science behind the regulation of food and feed products, the globalization of these markets, and advances in analytical technology contribute to a growing need for research in the emerging field of regulatory science, which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines as "the science of developing new tools, standards, and approaches to assess the safety, efficacy, quality and performance of FDA-regulated products." A need exists for a multi-disciplinary approach to regulatory science including basic, applied and translation research that support hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls for biological and chemical hazards. The adoption of regulatory science techniques by industry and the regulatory community will improve the competitiveness in the feed and grain industry in Texas and globally. This project focuses on cereal grains and oilseeds, feed, and food products from the agricultural goods to improve testing accuracy, improved risk management by firms, and improved regulatory risk management by countries through the adoption of co-regulations. Improved testing accuracy will occur through adoption of laboratory quality systems approach to laboratory management, participation in a global mycotoxin proficiency testing program, use of reference material and certified reference material to ensure testing accuracy, analyst qualification through workshops, and online graduate level course delivery as continuing education to public and private sector program participants. The program also works with senior level management in both the public and private sector to facilitate the adoption of agreed upon standards that may be translated into new statutes and regulations to encourage adoption of a preventive approach to manage food safety hazards through co-regulation that involves shared responsibility to improve food safety, add legal certainty, and faciliate commerce.
