Specialty Crops Inspection Division
Programs and Services

• SCI facilitates the efficient, fair marketing of America’s fresh, frozen, and processed fruits, 

vegetables, and other specialty crops by providing:

• Grading, inspection, and certification services

• Voluntary, audit-based services to verify good agricultural and manufacturing 

practices, HACCP, traceability, food defense, and export certification

• U.S. grade standards and related guidance, and Commercial Item Descriptions for all 

commodities

• Services are voluntary (except when mandated by Federal marketing orders, or school 

lunch and other feeding programs)

• Services provided on a user-fee basis to anyone with a financial interest in product load
Delivering to Stakeholders

USDA and 

Federal 

Agencies

Specialty Crops 

Inspection 

Division

State 

Departments 

of Agriculture

AMS 

Managers and 

Employees

International 

Organizations

Specialty 

Crops Industry

AMS CPP

FSIS FNS 

FSA FDA 

DoD NMFS

GFSI

Codex

UNECE

USAID
SCI Field Locations
Inspection Services

• Inspect fresh and processed fruits, vegetables, nuts, and specialty crops products 

• Certify class, quality, quantity, and condition of product upon shipping or receipt in 

interstate commerce

• Customers choose inspection type

• U.S. grade standards or contract terms

• Full inspection (quality and condition)

• Condition only

• Weight or count only

• Temperature only

• Custom certifications

We support an efficient 

marketing system that 

quickly moves 

wholesome, affordable 

agricultural products 

from farm to consumer
USDA GAP Audit Services

Meeting Buyers’ Needs
USDA GAP Audit Services

Harmonized GAP Plus+ Audit

• Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) 

technically equivalent

- Reapplying for continued technical equivalency (March 2021)

• Produce Safety Rule alignment 

• Produce GAP Harmonization Initiative

• Food and Drug Administration 

recommendations and industry-recognized 

food safety practices Produce 

Safety Rule

& Industry 

Best 

Practices
USDA GAP Audit Services

Harmonized GAP Audit

• Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) technical standards 

• Produce Safety Rule alignment 

• Produce GAP Harmonization Initiative

• Food and Drug Administration recommendations and 

industry-recognized food safety practices

Produce 

Safety Rule

& Industry 

Best 

Practices
Audit Program Export Certifications

• Pre-Export Check Program for almonds destined for the European Union

• Aflatoxin control measures for peanuts destined for the European Union

• European Union Certification Program for Sprouts and Seeds for Sprouts

• Pistachio Export Aflatoxin Reporting (PEAR) Program
GAP Buyer Acceptance Project

• AMS, Michigan State University (MSU), and the Wallace Center at Winrock

International collaborating to increase buyer acceptance of USDA GAP audits

• MSU survey of buyers, producers, and audit providers to determine current industry 

acceptance of USDA audits

• Pilot GAP program with national retailers and key buyers 

• Working with Costco to assess alignment of USDA Harmonized GAP Plus+ audit with 

their supplier food safety requirements
Standardization Programs

• Develop and maintain 300+ U.S. standards for grades

• Standards define quality and condition factors for fresh and processed fruits, 

vegetables, nuts, and other specialty crop products

• Develop and maintain 188 Commercial Item Descriptions (CID) for products in all 

commodity areas

• CIDs are official U.S. Government procurement documents that describe the most 

important characteristics of a commercial product

• Used by buyers to specify the product they want to purchase
SCION

• Specialty Crops Integrated Operating Network

• New automated business platform to support

Specialty Crops Inspection Division grading, inspection, 

and audit business processes

• Comprised of three distinct applications for meet specific

end-user needs

• Applicant Portal

• SCION Console

• Inspector/Auditor App

One-stop-shop for SCI 

applicants to request 

services and access key 

information about their 

business.
Specialty Crops Inspection Division