Federal Select Agent Program conducts laboratory safety visit at WSU
WSU participates in research and diagnostic work that fall under the regulations in the Federal Select Agent Program (FSAP). FSAP oversees the possession, use, and transfer of biological select agents and toxins, which have the potential to pose a severe threat to public, animal, or plant health, or to animal or plant products. WSU faculty and staff are well-trained to handle highly pathogenic microbial samples and publish high impact articles on their research findings.
FSAP is jointly comprised of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Division of Select Agents and Toxins (CDC DSAT) and the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services/Agriculture Select Agent Services (USDA-APHIS AgSAS). FSAP requires all individuals to complete a Security Risk Assessment (SRA) and be approved by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) prior to working in the labs within the program. Registered entities are required to renew their registration every three years. The registration for WSU will be renewed in March 2019.
In anticipation of WSU’s renewal, a team of five compliance inspectors and scientists from CDC DSAT and USDA-APHIS AgSAS visited WSU from February 12-14. The inspection audits help WSU maintain our program at the highest level. Although the renewal inspection was scheduled, the site visits often are random and unannounced. The team surveyed all laboratories to ensure proper containment and safety practices. They also reviewed records from the last three years.
While we are waiting for the final report to be finalized by the agencies, the closeout meeting with the WSU FSAP team indicated there were no findings that would prevent renewal. WSU looks forward to continuing research and diagnostics under this program.