U Marketing and

Regulatory

Programs

Agricultural

Marketing

Service

Specialty

Crops

Program

Specialty 

Crops 

Inspection

Division

AIM 

Management

Series

Federal Field Office and 

Federal-State 

Cooperative Market Field 

Office Review

September 2017
“SCI moving forward in the 21st Century using technology, innovation, and old fashioned hard work”

Non-Discrimination Policy: In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and 

employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from 

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expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived 

from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights 

activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all 

programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident. 

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the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made 

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To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint 

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completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the 

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opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
i

Federal Field Office and Federal-State Cooperative Market Field Office Review

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1

GUIDE FOR ELECTRONIC USAGE........................................................................................... 2

RESPONSIBILITIES...................................................................................................................... 3

Field Office Reviewer..................................................................................................................... 3

Federal ........................................................................................................................................ 3

Federal-State Cooperative Market.............................................................................................. 4

IIC and SAS .................................................................................................................................... 5

Federal OIC..................................................................................................................................... 5

Federal-State OIC ........................................................................................................................... 5

Regional Branch Chief.................................................................................................................... 6

Federal Program Managers............................................................................................................. 6

Federal State Inspection Management (FSIM) Branch Chief .......................................................... 6

Chief of Staff for Inspection Operations and Associate Director of Inspection Operations .......... 6

REPORT MANAGEMENT............................................................................................................ 7

APPENDIX I – SC-398 FIELD OFFICE REVIEW REPORT....................................................... 8

APPENDIX II – SC-400 FEDERAL-STATE COOPERATIVE MARKET OFFICE REVIEW 

REPORT ......................................................................................................................................... 9

APPENDIX III – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SHEET ................................................................ 10
SCI Division Management Series Federal Field Office and Federal-State Cooperative Market 

Field Office Review

Effective Date: September 2017 Page 1 of 10

INTRODUCTION

This instruction establishes Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) Division procedures for conducting

field office reviews of Federal Area Offices, Sub-Offices, and Inspection Point offices and 

Federal-State Cooperative Market field offices not covered under a Branch Internal Quality 

Management System (BIQMS). This instruction includes field office review procedures for 

planning, documenting, reporting, and distributing of reports. Field office reviews are conducted 

to ensure SCI’s policies, regulations, procedures and instructions for grading, certification, and 

overall administration for its programs are implemented and working as intended. These reviews 

provide essential information to SCI and Federal-State management for continual Quality 

Management System (QMS) improvement.

These field office reviews are conducted annually at each field office location. The frequency of 

the review process may be modified in concurrence with the Associate Director of Inspection 

Operations depending on the extent of controls necessary to ensure operational procedures and 

processes are working as intended. Federal-State Cooperative Market supervisors need to work 

through the Federal-State Inspection Management (FSIM) Branch Chief and their respective 

Federal Program Managers (FPM) if modification is needed.

Primary field office Reviewer responsibility for scheduling and conducting these systematic onsite reviews unless otherwise directed by the Associate Director of Inspection Operations are 

listed in the table below.

Field Office Type Field Office 

Reviewer1 Final Review Report Issued to

Federal Area Office Inspection Operations 

Regional Branch

Chief (RBC)

Officer in Charge (OIC), RBC (if not the 

reviewer), HQ Inspection Operations Chief 

of Staff and Associate Director of

Inspection Operations

Federal Sub-Office OIC Sub-Area Supervisor (SAS), OIC (if not the 

reviewer), and RBC

Federal Inspection Point OIC Inspector in Charge (IIC), OIC (if not the 

reviewer) and RBC

Federal-State Cooperative 

Market Office

FPM Fed-State OIC, Federal-State Supervisor, 

FSIM Branch Chief and FPM (if not the 

reviewer)

 1 Federal field office reviewer responsibility may be delegated to other qualified RBCs, Assistant RBCs, Headquarters Inspection Operations staff 

members, OICs, Assistant OICs, FSIM Branch Chief, Assistant FSIM Branch Chief, or FPM as needed to better ensure efficient and cost 

effective reviews.
SCI Division Management Series Federal Field Office and Federal-State Cooperative Market 

Field Office Review

Effective Date: September 2017 Page 2 of 10

To better ensure uniformity each RBC and Assistant RBC will annually assist and participate in

at least one Area Office Review outside of their respective regional territory. Each FPM will 

annually assist and participate in at least one Federal-State Cooperative Market Field Office 

review outside of their respective regional territory.

Specific office functions and performance measures will be evaluated for compliance with

established policies. Non-conformities identified will be addressed via corrective action procedures.

Additional procedures or programs may be included in the review at the request of SCI Management

or the RBC.

GUIDE FOR ELECTRONIC USAGE 

The AIM system of instructional manuals is available electronically in Adobe Acrobat Portable 

Document Format (PDF) at the following intranet address: 

https://ems-team.usda.gov/sites/AMS/AMS-SCI/AIM/SitePages/Home.aspx

When accessed electronically, AIM materials have hyperlinks and hypertext (visible as 

underlined blue text) available to the PDF user. Clicking on a hyperlink takes the reader to a 

web site with information relating to the subject. Hypertext links the reader to a different page 

within the current manual, or a different manual, with information relating to the subject. For 

example, the hypertext in the Table of Contents allows a reader to go directly to the section of 

interest in the manual by clicking on the section title. 

PDF offers a variety of tools depending on the Adobe version the reader has. The newer the 

version, the more tools available. PDF documents are easily searchable for content within a 

document or within multiple documents. To learn about the variety of PDF search options: 

• Click on the “Help” tab on the top of any page in Adobe Acrobat, 

• Then click on the “Adobe Acrobat Help” bar, 

• Type the word “Search” in the “Search” box, and click on the “Search” button, 

• A series of options will become available, 

• Click on the “Access Search Features” link and follow the instructions for the type of 

search you are interested in.
SCI Division Management Series Federal Field Office and Federal-State Cooperative Market 

Field Office Review

Effective Date: September 2017 Page 3 of 10

RESPONSIBILITIES

Field Office Reviewer

Federal

A. Provide OIC, SAS, or IIC with sufficient advance notice of the proposed review date to 

arrange for visits to processing plants and inspection points.

B. Prepare necessary worksheets for conducting the review, of procedures or programs 

requested by SCI Management or the Associate Director of Inspection Operations, if not 

included in the Federal Field Office Review report.

C. Identify and document the findings and categorize into (1) positive findings, (2) nonconformances, and (3) observations.

1. Custodial Activities pertaining to USDA Contracts for Area Office reviews will

be evaluated separately by HQ Inspection Operations. The USDA Contracts 

related questions on the Federal Field Office Review report will be completed by 

the HQ Inspection Operations reviewer at the time of this review.

2. Determine if there are non-conformances of a serious nature which need to be 

immediately elevated to the attention of the RBC or Associate Director of 

Inspection Operations and, if so, notify same.

D. Document the non-conformances that affect the ability of SCI to achieve its stated quality 

objectives.

E. Conduct an exit briefing of all findings with the OIC, SAS, or IIC.

F. Prepare the Federal Field Office Review report, including the Corrective Action Tracking 

section for identified non-conformities not corrected at time of review.

G. Distribute the report to the respective RBC, OIC, SAS, or IIC, within 15 working days of 

the start of the review.

1. Include the Executive Summary sheet for Area Office reviews.

H. Respond back to the OIC, SAS, or IIC within 15 working days of reception, acceptance 

of the proposed corrective actions and proposed timeline of implementation. Track, 

follow-up and verify effectiveness of corrective actions taken until completion and close 

out.
SCI Division Management Series Federal Field Office and Federal-State Cooperative Market 

Field Office Review

Effective Date: September 2017 Page 4 of 10

I. Distribute the completed report to the Chief of Staff for Inspection Operations and the 

Associate Director of Inspection Operations once all corrective actions have been 

completed and closed out;

1. Include the completed Executive Summary sheet for Area Office reviews.

Federal-State Cooperative Market 

A. Provide Fed-State OIC with sufficient advance notice of the proposed review date to 

arrange for visits to inspection points.

B. Prepare necessary worksheets for conducting the review, of procedures or programs 

requested by SCI Management or the FSIM Branch Chief, if not included in the FederalState Cooperative Market Field Office Review report.

C. Identify the findings and categorize into (1) positive findings, (2) non-conformances, and

(3) observations.

1. Determine if there are non-conformances of a serious nature which need to be 

immediately elevated to the attention of the FSIM Branch Chief or Associate 

Director of Inspection Operations and, if so, notify same.

B. Document the non-conformances that affect the ability of SCI to achieve its stated quality

objectives.

C. Conduct an exit briefing of all findings with the Fed-State OIC.

D. Prepare the Federal-State Cooperative Market Field Office Review report, including the 

Corrective Action Tracking section for identified non-conformities not corrected at time 

of review.

E. Distribute the report to the respective Federal-State Supervisor and Fed-State OIC, within

15 working days of the start of the review.

F. Respond back to the Fed-State OIC within 15 working days of reception, acceptance of 

the proposed corrective actions and proposed timeline of implementation. Track, followup and verify effectiveness on corrective actions taken until completion and close out;

G. Distribute the completed report to the FSIM Branch Chief and respective FPMs once all 

corrective actions have been completed and closed out.
SCI Division Management Series Federal Field Office and Federal-State Cooperative Market 

Field Office Review

Effective Date: September 2017 Page 5 of 10

IIC and SAS

A. For reviews conducted in their respective offices:

1. Provide any assistance, documents, or records needed for the review;

2. Submit proposed corrective actions for all non-conformities not corrected at the 

time of the review within 15 working days of receipt of the review report; and

3. Initiate all approved corrective and/or preventive actions.

Federal OIC 

A. Continually assess their Inspection Points’ and Sub-Offices’ fiscal activities including

contracts and agreements; evaluating the efficiency of inspection and grading with respect 

to established policies and procedures; reviewing administrative operations and 

procedures; and evaluating supervisory skills and abilities.

B. Coordinate scheduling with the RBC for each of their Inspection Points and Sub-Offices

to be reviewed annually and provide the RBC the annual schedule by January 15th, 

including the proposed date for each review.

C. For reviews conducted in their respective offices:

1. Provide any assistance, documents, or records needed for the review;

2. Submit proposed corrective actions for all non-conformities not corrected at the 

time of the review within 15 working days of receipt of the review report; and

3. Initiate all approved corrective and/or preventive actions.

Federal-State OIC 

A. Continually assess their Federal-State Cooperative Market field offices’ activities

including contracts and agreements; evaluating the efficiency of inspection and grading 

with respect to established policies and procedures; reviewing administrative operations 

and procedures.

B. For reviews conducted in their respective offices:

1. Provide any assistance, documents, or records needed for the review; 
SCI Division Management Series Federal Field Office and Federal-State Cooperative Market 

Field Office Review

Effective Date: September 2017 Page 6 of 10

2. Submit proposed corrective actions for all non-conformities not corrected at the 

time of the review within 15 working days of receipt of the review report; and

3. Initiate all approved corrective and/or preventive actions.

Regional Branch Chief

A. Continually assess their Area Offices’ fiscal activities including contracts and agreements;

evaluate the efficiency of inspection and grading, with respect to established policies and 

procedures; review administrative operations and procedures; and evaluate supervisory

skills and abilities.

B. Review Inspection Point and Sub-Office field office review reports completed by OICs in 

offices within their respective regional territory.

C. Coordinate scheduling for each of their Area Offices to be reviewed annually and provide 

the Associate Director of Inspection Operations and the Chief of Staff for Inspection 

Operations the annual schedule by January 15th, including the proposed date for each 

review.

Federal Program Managers 

A. Continually assess their Federal-State Cooperative Market activities including contracts 

and agreements; evaluating the efficiency of inspection, grading and auditing with respect 

to established policies and procedures; reviewing administrative operations and 

procedures; and evaluating supervisory skills and abilities.

B. Coordinate scheduling for each of their Federal-State Cooperative markets to be reviewed 

annually and provide the FSIM Branch Chief the annual schedule by January 15, 

including the proposed date for each review.

Federal State Inspection Management (FSIM) Branch Chief 

A. Review completed Federal-State Cooperative Market Field Office Review reports for all 

Federal-State Cooperative market offices.

B. Ensure that significant non-conformances are on the agenda for the next FSIM 

Management Review meeting for further discussion and resolution, or calling a

management meeting to discuss the issues.

Chief of Staff for Inspection Operations and Associate Director of Inspection Operations

A. Review completed Federal Field Office Review reports for all Area Offices.
SCI Division Management Series Federal Field Office and Federal-State Cooperative Market 

Field Office Review

Effective Date: September 2017 Page 7 of 10

B. Ensure that significant non-conformances are on the agenda for the next SCI Management

Review meeting for further discussion and resolution, or calling a management meeting

to discuss the issues.

REPORT MANAGEMENT

All completed Field Office Review reports and any additional follow-up correspondences must be 

saved electronically together in a designated SCI share drive folder and retained for 6 years.
SCI Division Management Series Federal Field Office and Federal-State Cooperative Market 

Field Office Review

Effective Date: September 2017 Page 8 of 10

APPENDIX I – SC-398 FIELD OFFICE REVIEW REPORT

Electronic version of the SC-398 Field Office Review Report
SCI Division Management Series Federal Field Office and Federal-State Cooperative Market 

Field Office Review

Effective Date: September 2017 Page 9 of 10

APPENDIX II – SC-400 FEDERAL-STATE COOPERATIVE MARKET OFFICE 

REVIEW REPORT

Electronic version of the SC-400 Federal-State Cooperative Market Office Review Report
SCI Division Management Series Federal Field Office and Federal-State Cooperative Market 

Field Office Review

Effective Date: September 2017 Page 10 of 10

APPENDIX III – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SHEET

Electronic version of the Review Executive Summary Sheet