FSIS FERN Cooperative Agreements

The summary for the FSIS FERN Cooperative Agreements grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Food Safety Inspection Service, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

FSIS FERN Cooperative Agreements: The Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) currently comprises federal, state, and local government regulatory laboratories with varying capacities to perform threat agent testing. The FSIS FERN cooperative agreements are intended to target state, local, and tribal FERN labs to augment microbiological threat agent testing capacities and expand the number of member laboratories able to perform threat agent testing for the Network. The agreements will enhance the ability to analyze for microbiological threat agents utilizing FERN methods and improve laboratory capacities for food defense assignments and outbreak response. The agreements will support FERN threat agent method training, the purchase of equipment and supplies required by the selected methods, and reimbursement of personnel expenses. [NOTE: The agreements do not support construction costs.] After training and demonstration of proficiency, laboratories will participate in coordinated multi-lab validation studies with various food matrices, as well as food defense assignments sponsored by the FERN.