Tougher Action Urged against Plants Repeating Violations
US - The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the USDA has published a report into the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspection and enforcement activities at pig slaughter plants to determine if they complied with food safety and humane handling laws.
25 June 2013
2 minute read
By: OIG's objectives were to identify areas of risk in FSIS’ inspection of swine plants, evaluate FSIS’ controls over food safety and humane handling, and determine if appropriate enforcement actions were taken against plants that violated FMIA and HMSA.
Review Process
FSIS inspected over 600 plants that have grants to slaughter swine.
For fiscal years 2008-2011, OIG reviewed enforcement actions taken against these plants. It also conducted site visits at 30 plants.
OIG's Recommendations
FSIS needs to develop a strategy to take progressively stronger enforcement actions against plants with serious or repetitive violations, according to OIG.
FSIS should determine what measurable improvement the HIMP programme achieved and its suitability as a permanent programme.
The OIG report added that FSIS should also provide a plan on how it will minimise reliance on the inspectors’ judgment to ensure they consistently enforce laws.
