NEARS Registration
NEARS is for federal, state, tribal, territorial, and local government food safety programs. Get started using NEARS today!
Check the list of current NEARS participants to see if your state program is already registered.
- If your program is not registered, follow the instructions below.
- If your program is registered, contact your NEARS administrator to get started. Email NEARS@cdc.gov if you need your administrator’s contact information.
Register your food safety program.
Identify an administrator to complete and email the following forms to NEARS@cdc.gov:
- Federal, State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Programs – Notice of Participation Form. [PDF – 216 KB]
- Additional Form for Local Programs – State Notice and Acknowledgment of Local Participation Form. [PDF – 134 KB]
The site administrator should be knowledgeable about food safety and foodborne illness outbreaks in your area.
Key responsibilities include reviewing and verifying the entered data to ensure quality.
After your program is registered, get set up with the system.
- The administrator should assign investigators who will collect NEARS data during outbreak investigations. There is no limit to the number of data collectors, but all should know how to conduct environmental assessments of foodborne illness outbreaks.
- CDC highly recommends data collectors and administrators take CDC’s free Environmental Assessment Training Series (EATS). Successful completion of this interactive course will improve data quality in NEARS.
Questions?
Check out the NEARS FAQs or email NEARS@cdc.gov.
Page last reviewed: August 3, 2022