Interagency Coordination & Harmonization
The Interagency Coordination and Harmonization Work Stream focused on activities related to institutionalization of interagency consultations (the Domestic Interagency Technical Working Group on Food Assistance Quality and the International Inter-Agency Working Group for Specialized Nutritious Food Products).
The Interagency Coordination and Harmonization team focused on:
- At the U.S. Government level engage industry, USAID, USDA, and the Food Aid Consultative Group in developing a strategy to institutionalize interagency interactions relating to food aid products, quality assurance, and policy positions.
- Providing coordination and support to the International Inter-Agency Working Group to achieve their stated objective: Ensure that Specialized Nutritious Food Products (SNFPs) are formulated, produced, and used in a manner that complies with international standards and is consistent with guidance from normative bodies on nutritional value and food safety, also taking into account advances in science, including product related research and development, operational needs of agencies, and empirical understanding of costs and effectiveness.
- Promoting the two main interagency technical groups (U.S. focused and U.S.-global focused) as modalities for ongoing discussion of product modifications, as well as the review and approval of new products and/or ingredients, and harmonization of policies, standard and specification-setting, and engagement with industry.
Resources
- 13th Inter-Agency Harmonization Working Group for Specialized Nutritious Food Products Meeting Communique
- 12th Inter-Agency Harmonization Working Group for Specialized Nutritious Food Products Meeting Communique
- Harmonized Specifications and Templates Summary
- US and Global Interagency Summary
- Bringing The USAID/FFP Food Assistance Resources Webpages Up To Industry Standards Report
Questions about this work stream?
Contact Principal Investigator, patrick.webb@tufts.edu.