APPROVED

FEDERAL PURCHASE 

PROGRAM SPECIFICATION 

(FPPS) FOR ANIMAL 

HANDLING AND WELFARE

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

Livestock, Poultry and Seed (LPS) Program 

Food Safety and Commodity Specification (FSCS) Division

Room 2628 S-Bldg, Phone: (202) 692-0342

Supersedes: FPPS-AHW-2015 January 2015 – Changes 

from previous requirements in blue

Effective: August 2017

Approved by_______CMS 

Date Issued: 08/11/08 

Date Revised: 08/02/17

100 GENERAL 

101 This document is for use by the Department of Agriculture (USDA), AMS, LPS 

Program to ensure that the animal handling and welfare requirements for Federal 

nutrition assistance programs reflect industry best practices. 

110 PROGRAM APPROACH 

111 All animal harvest facilities that supply raw materials from bovine, porcine and 

ovine species for the production of AMS destined finished products must develop 

and implement a written program that is consistent with a systematic approach to 

humane animal handling and welfare as outlined in 69 FR 54625. The program will 

ensure proper animal handling and welfare techniques are conducted from the time 

the transportation conveyance enters the facility’s premises through the stunning 

and exsanguination of the animal. 

120 PROGRAM SUBMISSION 

121 The program will be submitted as a supporting document to the organization’s 

approved technical proposal and must address the requirements outlined in 

Section 200 – PROGRAM COMPONENTS. 

200 PROGRAM COMPONENTS 

201 The contractor must ensure that any facility that harvests animals has a: 

210 MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT 

211 Steering Committee (internal) which is ultimately accountable for animal handling 

and welfare initiatives within the organization. 

212 Mission Statement on animal handling and welfare that is distributed to all 

employees and conspicuously displayed at the premises. 
Approved by_______CMS 

Date Issued: 08/11/08 

Date Revised: 08/02/17 2 

220 TRAINING PROGRAM 

221 Training program on Animal Handling and Welfare that:

221.1 is provided to all employees interacting with animals; 

221.2 covers the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) Recommended Animal Handling 

Guidelines & Audit Guide: A Systematic Approach to Animal Welfare, dated June 

2017;

221.3 is facilitated by an employee that has earned and maintained a certification of 

animal handling and welfare training, such as that offered through the Professional 

Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO) or an equivalent. 

221.4 is conducted no less frequently than once a year for each designated employee; 

and, 

221.5 requires signed documentation from each employee and confirmation by signature 

of the designated, certified trainer upon successful completion of training. 

230 QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLAN 

231 Written quality management plan (internal) which addresses all provisions of 

Chapter 3: Transportation Audit Guidelines, 7 Core Criteria and Chapter 4: Auditing 

Animal Handling and Stunning, 7 Core Criteria, of the NAMI Recommended Animal 

Handling Guidelines & Audit Guide: A Systematic Approach to Animal Welfare, 

dated June 2017, found at the following web site address: 

231.1 http://www.animalhandling.org/sites/default/files/forms/animal-handling-guidelinesJune152017.pdf

 

232 This internal quality management plan must also provide for routine assessment 

and monitoring of humane handling through the use of a numerical scoring system 

conducted by a trained employee. 

233 All animal harvest facilities that supply raw materials from bovine, porcine and 

ovine species for the production of AMS destined finished products must have a 

fully functioning back-up stunning device onsite wherever animal stunning is 

performed.

240 REGULATORY OVERSIGHT 

241 For all species, animals/carcasses that are inspected and passed by the Food 

Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) are eligible for AMS purchase programs. 

300 PROGRAM EVALUATION AND ELIGIBILITY 

301 The program will be audited (external) by AMS or a firm accredited by AMS. The 

accreditation of the firm will be conducted by the Quality Assessment Division 

(QAD) through the USDA ISO Guide 17065 Program. 
Approved by_______CMS 

Date Issued: 08/11/08 

Date Revised: 08/02/17 3 

302 Audit findings will be communicated to the establishment’s Food Safety and 

Inspection Service (FSIS) Inspector in Charge (IIC) or designee. 

310 AUDIT FORMAT 

311 Audits will be conducted utilizing the following format: 

312 TRANSPORTATION SEGMENT (CHAPTER 3: NAMI Recommended Animal 

Handling Guidelines & Audit Guide: A Systematic Approach to Animal Welfare,

dated June 2017) 

312.1 Audited organizations must pass Core Criteria 1 and 6 with a minimum scoring of 

excellent, Core Criteria 2 through 5 with a minimum scoring of acceptable and Core 

Criteria 7 must be adhered to with full compliance (zero tolerance) each time an 

audit is performed. 

313 ANIMAL HANDLING AND STUNNING SEGMENT (CHAPTER 4: NAMI 

Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines & Audit Guide: A Systematic Approach 

to Animal Welfare, dated June 2017) 

313.1 Audited organizations must adhere to Core Criteria 1, 2, 6 and 7 with full 

compliance (zero tolerance) and to Core Criteria 3, 4 and 5 with a minimum scoring 

of Acceptable each time an audit is performed.1/ 

313.2 The auditor shall inform FSIS and organization officials in writing of all audit 

findings, including any observations of missed stuns and/or animals regaining 

sensibility following stunning, upon completion of the audit during the exit interview. 

320 INITIAL AUDIT 

321 Initial audit must be performed prior to award of contracts. 

330 AUDIT FAILURE 

331 If an audit is failed for any of the Core Criteria, the organization is not eligible to 

provide product until such a time that corrective and preventative actions are 

approved by the Food Safety and Commodity Specification (FSCS) Division, 

implemented and proven effective. 

340 AUDIT FREQUENCY AND STATUS 

341 STANDARD - Until four (4) consecutive successfully passed audits are attained, an 

audit must be conducted within 3 months of the previous audit. 

1/Religious harvest (Kosher and Halal) shall be exempt from the AMS auditing of Core Criteria 1: Effective Stunning. 
Approved by_______CMS 

Date Issued: 08/11/08 

Date Revised: 08/02/17 4 

342 MONTHLY - If at any time an audit identifies any of the Core Criteria not meeting 

the pass requirements while in the STANDARD phase, auditing will be required to 

be conducted on a monthly basis once corrective and preventative actions have 

been approved by the FSCS Division, implemented and proven effective. This 

schedule will be for a period of time until four (4) successive audits are found to 

meet the passing requirements noted in SECTION 310 – AUDIT FORMAT; at 

which time audits shall be conducted on the STANDARD basis. 

343 If four successfully conducted audits are sequentially completed within a one year 

period while in STANDARD auditing phase, the facility may move to a SEMIANNUAL audit basis. 

344 SEMI-ANNUAL - Semi-annual audits may continue until such time that a failed 

audit is reported or a period of greater than six months has elapsed without any 

audits being performed; at which time the audits must resume as described for 

STANDARD audits. 

345 FOR-CAUSE – Any official enforcement actions issued by FSIS for missed stuns or 

for an animal regaining sensibility following stunning shall result in an immediate 

for-cause animal handling and welfare audit by AMS. Subsequent audit frequency 

will be determined by results of the AMS audit, as described above. 

400 FSCS DIVISION 

401 The FSCS Division can declare an organization’s Animal Handing and Welfare 

Program out of compliance at any time. 

402 The organization shall immediately notify the FSCS Division when any animal 

handling and welfare official enforcement action is issued by FSIS.