Objective:
The Participants recognize that cooperation is a matter of working together toward common goals of mutual interest, not merely cooperative financing or sharing of research activities. The Participants also recognize that successful cooperation occurs only through mutual understanding and efficient administration of cooperative programs. Nothing in this broad understanding is to be construed as interfering in any way with the basic responsibilities and authority of either Participant for independent action. This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishes terms of collaboration between FDA and USDA that can be pursued by the regular exchange of information in areas of common interest and shared responsibility, and fostering the development of collaborative projects. Each individual project may be set out in greater detail by the Participants in subsequent implementing agreements.

Approach:
This MOU forms the basis for development of scientific collaborations between FDA’s CFSAN, ORA, and CVM and USDA’s REE agencies (ARS, ERS, NASS, NIFA) in the areas of food safety and nutrition. The two agencies share common interest in multiple areas of food safety and nutrition. The Participants hold interests in exploring further additional avenues where mutually supportive activities can be collaborated in and pursued further. Areas may include but are not limited to food pathogen and contaminant detection methods, pre- and post-harvest food safety interventions and control strategies, nutrition monitoring methods and data, food composition analyses and databases, biomarkers of exposure, nutritional status, and disease risk, and economic analyses relevant to food safety and nutritional issues. Collaborations are expected to gather scientific data that will provide guidance for regulatory and policy decisions, and may change as priorities in both food safety and nutrition evolve. In order to assure that these collaborations are pursued in a continuing and timely fashion, FDA and USDA participants may meet twice a year or more frequently if needs arise, alternating meeting sites between the two agencies, and may share information, report on progress, and explore new areas for collaboration. These meetings will be coordinated by programmatic leaders in food safety and nutrition. For the purpose of facilitation of these collaborations, CFSAN (FDA) and ARS (USDA) have agreed to be the coordinators.