Food and Drug Administration
U. S. Department of Agriculture
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

A. PARTIES

The parties to this agreement are the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

B. BACKGROUND

While the American food supply is among the safest in the world, there are still millions of Americans stricken by illness every year caused by the food they consume, and some 9,000 a year -- mostly the very young and elderly -- die as a result. The threats are numerous and varied, ranging from Escherichia coli 0157:H7 in meat and apple juice, to Salmonella in eggs and on vegetables, to Cyclospora on fruit, to Cryptosprodium in public drinking water supplies -- and most recently, to hepatitis A virus in frozen, sliced and sugared strawberries.

In his January 25, 1997 radio address, President Clinton directed three Cabinet members -- the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of HHS, and the Administrator of the EPA -- to identify specific steps to improve the safety of the food supply. Their May, 1997, report to the President identified several issues and outlined a comprehensive new initiative to address those issues and improve the safety of the Nation's food supply.

One issue addressed in the report to the President was the coordination among federal, state and local agencies in responding to interstate outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. This MOU builds on previous Administration steps to modernize our food safety system and respond to emerging challenges as well as creating partnerships and leveraging the resources of federal, state and local agencies as part of the Vice President's National Partnership for Reinventing Government.

Four federal entities are charged with responding to outbreaks of foodborne illness (for the purpose of this MOU, foodborne illness also includes waterborne illness): USDA, EPA, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at HHS. Each of the four federal agencies has a critical role when a outbreaks occur. CDC's primary responsibility is to assist state and local health departments in investigating outbreaks of illness and in identifying the cause of the outbreak. FDA, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) at USDA, and EPA also have responsibility for determining whether a product they regulate may be causing illness, and for halting the spread of illness by taking regulatory action against the suspect products, or wastes (other than animal manures) that have the potential to contaminate the air, land, or waters used to produce the food product. The food product implicated in a foodborne outbreak determines which regulatory agency has primary jurisdiction: FSIS regulates meat, poultry, and egg products; FDA regulates all other foods including game meats, bottled drinking water and shell eggs; and EPA regulates water, drinking water from public systems and pesticides, and manages organic and inorganic wastes used or disposed of on agricultural land. While each entity has clearly defined areas of responsibility, the successful containment of many outbreaks of foodborne illness involves more than one federal entity.

All states and many local governments with varying expertise and resources share responsibility with the federal agencies for response to such outbreaks and, also, have a critical role. Identification and investigations of foodborne illness often begin at the community or state level. States and local governments share with the federal government the legal responsibility for protecting the health of their residents. The majority of foodborne outbreaks occur at the local or state level, however, many outbreaks involve federal agency jurisdiction. Illnesses cross state borders, and most foods or food ingredients are processed or produced in another state or by international trading partners. Federal involvement is also necessary when contaminated food from a common source has been distributed to grocery stores, restaurants, and homes in more than one state.

When outbreaks of foodborne illness occur, federal agencies work with state and local health and agricultural authorities in their investigation and in implementation of control measures through consultation, diagnostic assistance, and by regulatory action against the products. In some instances, on-site assistance is requested by local and state authorities from the CDC to establish the cause of an outbreak, and from other agencies to help find the source of the problem. For large or multistate outbreaks, federal agencies play a critical coordination role to ensure consistency of approach and implementation of needed control measures.

C. RECOGNITION OF NEED

Although significant communication already occurs among the federal agencies; among federal, state and local agencies; among the various state agencies; and between state and local agencies, better coordination is needed to meet new and growing threats to the nation's food supply, enhance the level of public health protection, provide standards for prevention of future foodborne illness outbreaks, leverage agency resources and experience, and avoid duplication of effort and move more quickly since products can be widely distributed.

Further, a critical element of an effective, rapid response to a foodborne illness outbreak is ready communication by all the involved parties. Although there are communication systems in place, the systems need to be expanded and coordinated to achieve rapid exchange of information and data between key outbreak response personnel in each agency at the federal, state and local levels and the affected food industry.

The report to the President recommended the establishment of an intergovernmental group, to be known as the Foodborne Outbreak Response Coordinating Group, to improve the approach to interstate outbreaks of foodborne illness and develop a national, coordinated outbreak response system.

A. This memorandum of understanding ("Memorandum") among the parties is entered into in order to form the Foodborne Outbreak Response Coordinating Group ("FORCG").

B. The purpose of the FORCG is defined by the following goal, mission and objectives:

1. It is the goal of FORCG to improve the approach to interstate outbreaks of foodborne illness by federal, state and local agencies charged with responding to such outbreaks.

2. Toward this goal, it is the mission of FORCG to include federal, state and local agencies with outbreak response duties in the development of a national comprehensive and coordinated foodborne illness outbreak response system.

3. This mission will be accomplished by subscribing to the following management objectives which will, in turn, guide FORCG:

   a. FORCG will review and evaluate outbreak response at the federal agency level (among agencies), including cooperation among federal agencies and between state and local agencies and affected industries. FORCG will identify areas where efficiency can be gained and make specific recommendations for improvement. FORCG will work with federal, state, and local governments, the food industry, health professionals, and consumer advocates to implement beneficial changes.

   b. Standard operating procedures will be developed for the rapid exchange of data and information associated with foodborne illness outbreaks between involved agencies and for dissemination to the public. The procedures will cover the exchange of data and information associated with an outbreak and will complement systems established for exchange of information about day-to-day occurrences of foodborne illness.

   c. A nationwide survey will be conducted to catalogue existing state and local food safety program infrastructures.

   d. Working groups will be established to develop recommended procedures for outbreak response coordination between federal and state agencies, and between state and local agencies levels to improve the coordinated response to interstate outbreaks.

A. Under Title II, Section 204, Subpart (a) of the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-4, elected state officers, or their designated representatives with authority to act on their behalf, may meet with federal officers to exchange views, information, or advice relating to the management or implementation of federal programs established pursuant to public law that explicitly or inherently share intergovernmental responsibilities or administration. The parties, therefore, agree that all members of FORCG will be federal officials or state employees with the requisite authority.

B. FORCG will have the following members:

1. Two representatives from USDA: The Under Secretary for Food Safety and the Administrator for FSIS, or their designees.

2. Four representatives from HHS: The Assistant Secretary for Health, the Commissioner of the FDA, the Director of CFSAN and the Director of CDC, or their designees.

3. Two representatives from EPA: The Assistant Administrator for the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances and the Assistant Administrator for Water, or their designees.

4. One state employee who is a representative of the Association of Food and Drug Officials.

5. One state employee who is a representative of National Association of City and County Health Officials.

6. One state employee who is a representative of the Association of State and Territorial Public Health Laboratory Directors.

7. One state employee who is a representative of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists.

8. One state employee who is a representative of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.

A. FORCG will be co-chaired by the Under Secretary for Food Safety (USDA) and the Assistant Secretary for Health (HHS). His or her designee will facilitate each meeting.

B. One member will be designated as the outbreak response coordinator for each department or agency that has a role in an outbreak response. The duties of each outbreak response coordinator will be identified as FORCG develops the overall outbreak response system. HHS will designate the Assistant Secretary for Health as the primary person in charge of coordination for HHS. USDA will designate the Under Secretary for Food Safety as the primary person in charge of coordination for USDA. EPA will designate the Assistant Administrator for Water as the primary person in charge of coordination for EPA when drinking water is involved, and the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances will be the primary person when Pesticides and Toxic Substances are involved.

A. FORCG will meet Bi-monthly.

B. This Memorandum may be modified with supplemental written agreements signed by the parties and can be terminated in writing, in whole or in part, by consensus of the parties.

C. This Memorandum will become effective on the date the final signature is affixed hereto.

D. This Memorandum is entered into within the limits of the statutory authority of the parties to the Memorandum.

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