Cooperative
Inspection Program Functions
Comparable requirements for State inspection programs are defined in
the Federal Meat Inspection Act
(FMIA) for cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses,
mules and other equines and in the
Poultry Products
Inspection Act (PPIA) for
domesticated poultry, defined by regulation to include chickens,
turkeys, ducks, geese, guineas, ratites or squabs. FSIS Cooperative
Inspection Program functions are outlined below. The outline uses the authorities of the
FMIA as an example. The
PPIA has comparable provisions.
The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, under Title III, when it
would effectuate the purposes of the
FMIA, to
cooperate with States in developing and administering an "at least
equal to" program imposing mandatory requirements for:
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Antemortem, postmortem,
reinspection, sanitation (Title I) |
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Denaturing product sold not
for food (Title II Sec. 201) |
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Maintaining records (Title
II Sec. 202) |
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Providing access (Title II
Sec 202) |
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Registering brokers,
renderers, wholesalers, and others -- includes product for human food
and dead, dying, disabled and diseased animals (Title II Sec. 203) |
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Control of dead, dying, disabled and diseased
animals (Title II Sec. 204) |
Cooperation includes:
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Advisory assistance in
planning and developing the program |
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Technical and laboratory
assistance and training |
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Funding to 50% |
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And is contingent upon administration of the
State program in a manner which the secretary, in consultation with
advisory committee deems adequate to effect the purposes of the Act
(Title III Sec. 301(a)(3) and (4) |
The State program is subject to designation (returned to Federal
inspection) if:
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The State chooses to drop
the program, or |
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Requirements defined in the
FMIA are not met
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Designate per 9 CFR 331.2
covering Titles I and IV of Act (Title IV covers authorities for
penalties, detention, seizures, and Federal Trade Commission Act
provisions) |
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Designate per 9 CFR 331.6
covering Title II of Act |
|
The Secretary of Agriculture shall, at least annually, review
requirements, including enforcement thereof, with respect to:
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Slaughter, preparation, storage, handling and
distribution and inspection of such operations. |
A State Application to initiate an "equal to" program
starts with:
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A Request to Secretary of Agriculture, in
writing, from the Governor |
Before implementation, the State must receive FSIS approval of
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Laws |
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Regulations |
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State Performance Plan which, under
existing guidelines, addresses application of
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Laws |
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Regulations |
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Funding |
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Resource management
(staffing, training, financing) |
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Facilities and Equipment |
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Labels and Standards |
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In-Plant Review and
Enforcement |
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Specialty programs such
as residue testing |
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Laboratories |
|
When approved, an announcement is published as a final rule in the
Federal Register.
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Removes State from list of
designated states in 9 CFR 331.2 and 331.6 |
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Gives effective date |
FSIS Annual certification of each State program is based upon:
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Review of State Performance
Plan and related reports |
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Review of the State’s own
Annual Report of accomplishments, including a self assessment |
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Results of Special or
Comprehensive USDA reviews that are performed normally on a cycle of
every 1 to 5 years, depending upon review findings |
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Input that might have been
derived from other sources |
Comprehensive Reviews currently include:
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Review of State Performance
Plan |
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In-Plant Review directed to state-wide
inspection system assessment including:
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HACCP plan and
implementation |
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Sanitation Standard
Operating Procedures and implementation |
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State Salmonella Testing
Program findings, |
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Plant E. coli testing
program |
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Labeling |
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Inspection procedures |
|
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Compliance Program Review |
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Laboratory Review |
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Resource Management Review |
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Budget and Finance Review |
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Civil Rights Review |
Cross utilization of State inspection personnel under Authority of
the Talmadge-Aiken (T/A) Act of 1962
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To avoid duplication of
functions, facilities and personnel and to attain closer coordination
and greater effectiveness and economy of administration of Federal and
State laws |
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At the discretion of the
Secretary, a State agency with adequate laws, facilities, personnel
and procedures may assist the Secretary in administration and
enforcement of Federal laws |
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9 of the 27 States with
inspection programs have cooperative T/A agreements with USDA,
covering a total of 307 Federally inspected plants, and utilizing at
least 10 State program staff years per State. The State inspectors are
supervised by the State with FSIS guidance |
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3 additional State programs
perform Federal inspection utilizing less than 10 State program staff
years per state. The State inspectors work under the direction of
Federal supervisors. |
Cross utilization of State personnel to review custom exempt plants
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Inspection is not required
for custom operators who slaughter or process meat and poultry for the
owner of the product and return the product to the owner. Such product
is for the owner’s use and cannot be sold. The facility is required
to be maintained and operated in a sanitary manner and to mark the
product "Not for Sale" under the
FMIA
or "Exempted - P.L. 90-492" under the poultry regulations |
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Custom exempt plants are
reviewed annually, or more often, depending upon the findings
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In states with meat
inspection programs, the State program reviews custom exempt plants |
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In states without meat
inspection programs, FSIS reviews custom exempt plants |
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In 3 states without meat
inspection programs, cooperative agreements are in place for State
personnel to perform the reviews with annual FSIS evaluation of the
process |
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