Department of Ag Looking to Consolidate Certification Processes

The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) is looking to upgrade licensing and inspection in its Organic Certification Program and Texas Office of Produce Safety (TOPS).

The agency, which is the lead for Texas’ U.S. Food and Drug Administration compliance and regulation, plans to adopt a software-as-a-service solution that will streamline and quicken the pace of certification operations while ensuring customer service improvements. RFO No. 5510000181 is due March 27 and seeks to address certification services for more than 180 organic operations, a number that is expected to increase.

Software should:

• Be TX-RAMP-certified
• Replace manual/paper processes
• House and manage all farm and livestock information
• Complete forms, pull analytics, build reports
• Auto-populate forms for user ease and to reduce duplicates
• Automate processes including scheduling and email response
• Perform multiple functions related to licensing, administration and training

The platform will need to integrate with Texas.gov and various other state-run systems and provide identity management. Data migration and user training are also expected.

The detailed RFO is posted at Texas Smart Buy under search number 551. Alfredo “Freddy” Aguirre is the contact.