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Inspections of small plants are inconsistent: GAO
Story Date: 6/6/2013
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Source: MEATINGPLACE, 6/5/13
A new Government Accounting Office (GAO) report has found inconsistent application of rules for an inspection program to support interstate shipment of meat and poultry products from plants with 25 or fewer employees that are regulated by state agencies.
USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) has met most of the key implementation requirements for the plan, called the Cooperative Interstate Shipment (CIS) program, GAO said. The inspection program was authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, and FSIS issued regulations in May 2011.
FSIS provided additional guidance in October 2011 instructing states on what they needed to demonstrate to be approved for the CIS program.
However, FSIS is not coordinating with other USDA agencies and informing states on the regulations, and inspection oversight and standards of existing inspection programs for interstate shipment differ from those of the CIS program, GAO said.
As of January 31, three states — Ohio, North Dakota and Wisconsin — and eight establishments in two of those states had been selected to participate in the program. However, FSIS’ technical assistance division has not coordinated with other USDA agencies on initiatives to provide training and technical assistance to small establishments and grants to states for those initiatives, as required by the 2008 Farm Bill.
The Farm Bill requires the federal coordinator for each state to visit CIS establishments frequently enough to ensure they are following federal meat and poultry inspection laws, and to submit a quarterly food safety compliance report on each establishment. FSIS officials said the agency intends these visits to be conducted at least once every three months. However, under the existing inspection programs in which states conduct inspections for interstate shipment, FSIS inspects establishments and issues a compliance report about once every four years.
Under the CIS program, inspections must be identical to federal inspections, including legal authorities, inspector training, computer systems and laboratory protocols. But fiscal year 2013 cooperative agreements with states specify a lesser standard, which is not consistent with the requirements for federal marks of inspection GAO found.
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