The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would like to recruit a food safety expert from a local health department to serve on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Surveillance Working Group of the Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC), Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases, CDC (or SWG for short). The current FSMA SWG consists of 18 members from CDC, FDA, FSIS, the Board of Scientific Counselors, national public health associations, and consumer, industry and academic representatives. See more details about the makeup of the Working Group below. View background information and information on SWG activities here.
Term, Travel, and Work Expectations:
- The representative’s term will begin on December 1, 2020 and end on November 30, 2023 with the potential for a second 3-year term.
- The NACCHO representative would participate in two 2-day meetings* per year and review the annual report to the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. The next SWG meeting will be held on Zoom from 1 to 5 PM ET on December 7 and 8, 2020.
- Unlike the CDC BSC, the FSMA SWG (a subgroup of the CDC BSC) is not a FACA (Federal Advisory Committee Act) committee, so SWG members do not have the extensive financial reporting requirements of FACA members.
*Before COVID-19, the SWG meetings took place in Atlanta, Georgia, and occurred from noon on Monday to 3:30 pm ET on Tuesday, usually the day before the CDC BSC held its two-day meeting.
Preferred Qualifications:
Candidates are required to be experts working in local health agencies. Candidates are expected to have:
- Knowledge of food safety issues
- An excellent understanding of human foodborne disease surveillance methods
- Experience using scientific data
- A track record in public discussion
- Ability to clearly represent the views of their constituents
To be considered for the membership, please send your resume and a brief statement of interest and experience to Amy Chang ([email protected]) by November 20, 2020, 5:00 PM ET.
Makeup of the Working Group
The BSC FSMA SWG was established as a workgroup under the BSC/DDID and includes at least two BSC members. One of the BSC members serves as Chair of the SWG. The Director of the Food Safety Office/DFWED/NCEZID will serve as the Workgroup Designated Federal Officer (DFO) in consultation with the BSC/DDID DFO. For further information, the SWG annual reports for the past 7 years can be found here.
