IRAC Annual Plan (FY2000)
This annual plan was prepared by the technical representatives of the interagency Risk Assessment Consortium (RAC) and presented to the RAC policy council on May 25, 1999. Revisions were recommended and a revised version was sent to RAC representatives for comments. Comments were incorporated and a final review was requested of the policy council. The plan below describes goals and the Aworking plan@ to achieve those goals. Longer term Aworking plans@ are also included. Progress towards accomplishing the goals of the annual plan will be reported each quarter. An annual review and updating will be conducted by the policy council.
Goal 1: Finalize RAC Charter
Working Plan: June 1, 1999 - May 31, 2000
- Convene meeting of RAC Policy Council
- Approval of the proposed annual plan
Goal 2: Initiate membership from additional federal agencies with food safety related missions
Working Plan: June 1, 1999 - May 31, 2000
- Extending invitations of membership to APHIS, DOD, OPPTS, and CSREES
Long-Term
- When identified, invite membership from additional federal agencies
Goal 3: Conceptualize and guide the development of comprehensive comparative risk analysis approaches to assist in interagency strategic planning for Food Safety
Working Plan: June 1, 1999 - May 31, 2000
- Prepare and present risk ranking options to the President's Food Safety Council (PFSC)
- Initiate, guide, and participate in the implementation of the PFSC=s selected approach
- Convene interagency group of economists to assist the Economic Research Service in the development of economic valuation methods for a comparative risk ranking
- Evaluate methodology and progress of the economic valuation approach
- Review and evaluation of methodology for comparative risk rankings
Long-term
- Co-sponsor an international conference on economic valuation methods applied to food safety
- Convene a series of public and scientific conferences to discuss and evaluate the RAC=s relative ranking across all foodborne hazards
Goal 4: Participate in the Risk Assessment Clearinghouse Activities
Working Plan: June 1, 1999 - May 31, 2000
- Guide the development of the technical workshop agenda and participate in the workshop
- Assist in drafting the clearinghouse framework document
- Facilitate the incorporation of agency-specific databases
- Promotion of the clearinghouse concept and usefulness at conferences, meetings, etc.
- Contribute completed analyses, methods and models
Long-term
- Continue to contribute analyses, methods and models
- Assist in the development of data quality and confidentiality guidelines
- Plan and advise on the international expansion of the clearinghouse
Goal 5: Advise the Joint Institute for Food Safety Research (JIFSR) on current and planned Federally-funded research that focuses on, or materially may contribute to, food safety risk assessment
Working Plan:June 1, 1999 - May 31, 2000
- Develop operational definitions for risk-assessment related research for use by JIFSR
- Advise on how to capture risk assessment related research in existing inventories
Long-term
- Review and comment on federally-funded research inventories related to risk assessment developed by JIFSR
Goal 6: Provide guidance towards the development of enhanced investigatory techniques for outbreak epidemiology designed to provide data for risk assessments
Working Plan: June 1, 1999 - May 31, 2000
- Advising current federally-funded programs designed to identify outbreaks amenable to enhanced investigatory techniques
- Monitoring and reviewing progress at quarterly RAC meetings.
Long-term
- Serving as a resource for member agencies who may be adapting epidemiological approaches
- Providing guidance on the utility of data collected from enhanced outbreak investigations
Goal 7: Improve the basic understanding of dose-response relationships for foodborne hazards, with an initial emphasis on microbiological hazards
Working Plan: June 1, 1999 - May 31, 2000
- Internet posting of Aug 4, 1998 meeting transcripts.
- Active solicitation of comments via listserves, direct mailing to meeting participants.
- Plan and conduct at least one organism specific workshop on dose-response as a follow-up to the August 4, 1998 workshop.
- Review dose-frequency software developed by FDA.
- Evaluation of current federal research activities initiated by the RAC
Long-term
- Improve communication between chemical and microbiological risk assessors, epidemiologists, microbiologists, clinicians and others.
- Advise federal agencies funding food safety dose-response research
Goal 8: Provide leadership in the development of risk communication approaches for foodborne hazards and potential interventions.
Working Plan: June 1, 1999 - May 31, 2000
- Review and evaluation of methodology for risk communication approaches
- Assist agencies in reviewing their analyses of the effectiveness of the "Fight BAC" campaign, food handling labels, thermometer use for hamburgers, raw oyster consumption risks, or other risk communication efforts.
Long-term
- Develop a model for evaluating the role of information and attitudes on changing food handling behavior of consumers and food consumption choices.
- Develop models for evaluating the role of information, attitudes, and economic incentives on changing food handling behavior of commercial food handlers.
- Collect data on various information interventions, both public and private, and use the model to evaluate their impact on the behavior of commercial food handlers and consumers.
Goal 9: Provide leadership to improve application of risk assessment models and methods to identify interventions from farm-to-table to control pathogens and other hazards, and to estimate their likely impact (both probability and consequence).
Working Plan: June 1, 1999 - May 31, 2000
- When appropriate, organize sessions at professional meetings that will foster a dialogue on improvements in risk assessment models for foodborne hazards.
- Review agency risk assessment models and plans for risk assessment projects when requested.
Long-term
- Organize a major conference on the art and science of building risk assessment farm-to-table models for foodborne hazards.