How to enroll in the retail standards grant program

The following step-by-step process is for easy enrollment to the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (Retail Program Standards).  Enrollment in the Retail Program Standards conveys an eligible jurisdiction’s intent to actively use the Retail Program Standards as a tool to assess and improve its retail food regulatory program.

Government agencies and organizations responsible for regulation or oversight of the food establishments that sell, serve, or vend food directly to the public are eligible to enroll in the Retail Program Standards.

A jurisdiction initiates the enrollment process by notifying their FDA Regional Retail Food Specialist of its intent to enroll in the Retail Program Standards.

Congratulations!  Once you have contacted your FDA Regional Retail Food Safety Specialist and submitted FDA Form 3958, you are considered “enrolled” for the purposes of the Retail Standards Grant Program and can apply for funding.  Updates to the National Registry confirming your enrollment may take up to 90 days, but this will not affect your funding eligibility nor reflect negatively on the application scoring process.

Following “enrollment,” a jurisdiction has 12 months from the date of enrollment to complete their Self-Assessment.  This activity is distinct from the actual enrollment.  The only correlation is that the timeframe for completion of the Self-Assessment is directly tied to the official date of enrollment.  Enrollment in the Retail Standards is required to be eligible for grant funding in any of the four project categories.  Please review the latest Grant Guidance for complete eligibility information.