Domestic Origin Verification 

Audit Program (DOV) 
Background

The AMS Commodity Procurement Division (CPD) 

under its commodity purchase program purchases a 

wide variety of agricultural food products.

These purchases are used:

 To support the National School Lunch Program 

 in addition to other food assistance programs. 

 To help stabilize prices in US agricultural 

commodity markets by balancing supply and 

demand.
Requirement

The Commodity Procurement Division requires all 

vendors through contract to supply 100 percent U.S. 

origin commodities to USDA . 

To qualify all products and product components shall 

have originated entirely from crops grown, processed, 

and packed in the United States, its territories or 

possessions, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the 

Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands.
Requirement

To demonstrate compliance with the domestic origin 

requirement, each contractor, subcontractor, supplier, 

or processor that provides a component or product to 

USDA is required to either:

perform a trace-back of at a minimum one code, per 

facility, per purchase order, for each commodity 

provided on the USDA purchase order

or

participate in the DOV Audit Program
Purpose of the DOV Program

 The DOV Program is an audit based program 

developed to replace the requirement to trace 

every contract.

 Applicants should already have a system or 

procedures in place to meet the current domestic 

origin contract requirement. 

 The DOV program provides a means for the 

applicant to use these procedures to develop an 

auditable process to verify the domestic origin of 

the product sold to the USDA.
Advantages of Program Participation

 Decreases the number of traces required to be 

submitted to the USDA and any redundancies.

 Assists applicants in demonstrating continual 

improvement of their verification procedures. 

 Compliance with the domestic origin requirement 

can be assured prior to receipt of components or 

products from suppliers.
Who is eligible to participate?

 Any financially interested applicant (contractor, 

subcontractor, supplier, or processor) providing 

components or products to the USDA may request 

the DOV Audit Program service.

 The DOV Audit Program may be used whether or 

not the applicant handles imports, requests lot 

inspection, or receives in-plant inspection.
How to apply to the program?

Contact the DOV Program Coordinator to discuss the 

DOV specific requirements and application process. 

Contact information can be found at:

http://www.ams.usda.gov/DOV

Complete the required Application for Service form 

and submit to the DOV Program Coordinator. 
Along with the Application for Service

Applicant’s submit a DOV program manual 

detailing the verifiable written procedures 

used to ensure compliance with the domestic 

origin contract requirement along with 

specific DOV Program requirements.

(The DOV Quick Guide summarizes the specific DOV 

Program requirements and can be viewed at 

http://www.ams.usda.gov/DOV )
Pre-Validation Assessment

The Applicant’s DOV program is assessed based on 

the documented procedures and processes

submitted. 

Auditor then provides feedback on any elements 

within the applicant’s submitted DOV program that 

may require additional clarification or information 

prior to the On-site Validation Audit.
Validation Audit

Audit Coordinator:

 Completes the Pre-validation Assessment process 

and deems the applicant ready for the on-site 

validation audit.

 Assigns competent auditor(s) to conduct the 

validation audit and discuss any nonconformance 

with the applicant.
Validation Audit

If any non-conformances are found:

 Written Corrective Action Requests (CAR) are 

provided to the applicant. 

 The applicant is then required to submit written 

responses to the CAR requests. 

 When all the corrective actions are determined 

adequate, the applicant is an:

 Approved DOV Program Participant.
Validation Audit

If an applicant is unable to be approved as a 

DOV Program Participant, the applicant is 

required to continue to submit trace-backs for 

every contract and commodity for the facility 

audited .
Verification Audits

 At least one on-site audit per year is required to 

ensure continued compliance with program 

requirements and approval in the DOV Program. 

 Increased frequency of Verification Audits

is dependent upon USDA’s assessment of the risk of 

non-compliance of the applicant’s program 

combined with verification audit findings.
Verification Audits

Verification audits are considered compliant 

and DOV program approval is maintained 

when no audit deficiencies are found or 

adequate corrective action is taken in 

response to audit deficiencies. 
Benefits of Participation

 trace-back for every contract is no longer needed.

 greatly reduces the paperwork of numerous traces. 

 alleviates the redundancy of trace-back on the 

same product used for multiple contracts.

 Compliance with the origin requirement is 

established prior to production rather than tracedback after production.
Benefits of Participation

 Approved DOV Program Participants are listed on the 

USDA website. 

 Contractors can select suppliers from the approved 

list and be assured that the supplier is able to meet 

the domestic origin requirement prior to contracting 

with them.

 Eliminates any contractor concern regarding the 

ability of the supplier to provide trace documentation 

after delivery to the contractor. 
Summary

 DOV is an audit based program and is an option to 

the current trace-back requirement.

 DOV improves the way domestic origin is verified.

 Approved DOV Program Participants can be

listed on the Specialty Crop Inspection Division 

websites.
Summary

 DOV Audit Program participation decreases 

paperwork, trace-backs, and redundancy.

 Any applicant can participate – contractor,

subcontractor, supplier, or processor.

 Program participation enhances the management of 

domestic origin verification.
Resources

Complete DOV Audit Program information 

is available at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/DOV

 Application for Service form

 DOV Audit Program General Policies and Procedures

 DOV Quick Guide

 Audit Report form

 List of Approved DOV Program Participants

 Audit rate information