United States Department of Agriculture 

Marketing and Regulatory Programs 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 

Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration 

Directive MRP 3010.2 7/26/04 

MARKETING AND REGULATORY PROGRAMS (MRP) ISSUANCE SYSTEM 

1. PURPOSE 

This Directive establishes the MRP Issuance System. 

2. REPLACEMENT HIGHLIGHTS 

This Directive replaces MRP Directive 3010.2, dated 5/31/96. 

3. COVERAGE 

The October 20, 1994, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reorganization 

created the MRP consisting of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), and Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards 

Administration (GIPSA). GIPSA consists of two formerly independent agencies B the 

Federal Grain Inspection Service and the Packers and Stockyards Administration. Only 

those functions that were consolidated by the reorganization will be covered by MRP 

issuances: 

a. Administrative Services; 

b. Finance; 

c. Personnel; and 

d. Travel. 

All functions retained within the agencies will continue to be covered by each agency=s 

issuance system. 

4. AUTHORITY 

Departmental Regulation 0100-001, Departmental Directives System, dated 

July 25, 1996. 

Distribution: AMS, APHIS, GIPSA Originating Office: ITD-AIM-FIRM 
5. DEFINITIONS 

a. MRP Issuances. Documents that communicate MRP policies and procedures to 

employees. They initiate or govern actions, conduct, and procedures or explain 

benefits and how to obtain them. 

b. Directives. Permanent issuances that are in force until canceled. Directives are 

used to issue delegations of authority, basic policies, and operating instructions. 

Directives can be changed without reissuing or reprinting the entire issuance if the 

change does not affect the current policy. 

c Notices. Temporary (not to exceed 1 year), one-time issuances that normally 

address a single subject or action, establish short-term programs or interim 

procedures, or make announcements. If information contained in a notice is of a 

permanent nature, it must later be reissued as a directive or manual/handbook. 

Notices cannot be changed. 

d. Manuals/Handbooks. Permanent issuances that provide technical guidance and 

detailed procedures on a particular subject or function, generally of the type that 

must be referred to on a daily or frequent basis. Manuals/handbooks can be 

changed without reissuing or reprinting the entire issuance if the change does not 

affect the current policy. 

e. Issuance Changes. Replacement pages for less than 40 percent of a directive or 

manual/handbook. An entire directive or manual/handbook must be reissued 

when more than 40 percent is changed or when the directive is shorter than 4 

pages. 

6. POLICY 

It is MRP policy to publish shared MRP issuances through a unified system with a focus 

on consolidating and reducing the number of issuances, while ensuring that agencyunique issuance requirements also are met. Employees will be provided with clear, 

concise, and timely issuances to effectively implement MRP responsibilities. All formal 

statements of MRP policy and procedures will be included in the MRP Issuance System. 

Any changes to the MRP Issuance System will be agreed upon and approved by the three 

MRP agencies. 

7. CLASSIFICATION NUMBERING SYSTEM 

a. MRP uses a modification of the USDA directives classification numbering 

system. Numbering consists of four digits in conformance with the Department=s 

numbering pattern and aligns with other Government regulations as much as 

possible. The system groups together all administrative issuances on a specific 

subject so that the information is easy to locate, use, and store. The classification 

codes are: 

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(1) 1000 Series - Organization, authorities, and administration. 

(2) 2000 Series - Finance and travel. 

(3) 4000 Series - Personnel. 

(4) 5000 Series - Property, acquisition, and other administrative services. 

b. The index of current issuances is located at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/library

and also at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/issuances. 

8. RESPONSIBILITIES 

a. The Deputy Administrator, MRP Business Services, will: 

(1) Approve and sign all MRP issuances except for those containing financial 

policy. 

(2) Sign the APHIS Form 3, Request for Clearance/Approval of Issuance, 

certifying approval. 

(3) Delegate signature authority to individuals acting for the Deputy 

Administrator. 

b. The MRP Controller will approve and sign all MRP issuances containing 

financial policy. 

c. Clearance Officials designated by each agency will review and indicate their 

agency’s program approval by initialing all MRP issuances prior to the Deputy 

Administrator’s signature. 

d. Originating Offices will: 

(1) Review directives issued by their office every 3 years and certify that they 

are still current. 

(2) Send all proposed notices, directives, and manuals/handbooks to the 

Forms, Issuances and Records Management (FIRM) staff for review and 

clearance prior to final printing and distribution. 

(3) If requested by managers in the agencies, the originating office will 

establish a team to work on a proposed issuance. 

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e. The APHIS Chief Information Officer directs the management of the MRP 

Issuance System and, through the FIRM: 

(1) Manages the MRP Issuance System. 

(2) Develops and maintains an effective issuance system. 

(3) Develops issuance standards, policies, and procedures. 

(4) Provides editing assistance to issuance originators. 

(5) Ensures that FORMAL clearances are obtained from the three agencies. 

(6) Provides originating offices with comments from clearance officials. 

(7) Reviews final submission after concurrence by agency clearance officials. 

(8) Forwards final issuance to the Deputy Administrator, MRP Business 

Services; or the MRP Controller, for signature. 

(9) Prepares issuances for printing and distribution by the Printing, 

Distribution, and Mail Branch. 

(10) Publishes issuances on the Internet in the electronic library with links to 

other pertinent websites including E-FOIA. 

(11) Maintains historical files of issuances, including copies of current and 

canceled issuances, clearance forms, and other records. 

(12) Notifies originating offices when the 3-year review of directives is 

required and when revisions to directives are needed. 

(13) Prepares and issues: 

(a) Periodic checklists covering all issuances published since the last 

checklist. 

(b) Revisions to the index of current issuances in the electronic 

library. 

(c) Electronic messages to headquarters offices announcing the 

posting of new issuances. 

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9. CONTENTS/FORMAT OF ISSUANCES 

a. Directives are to be formatted in the outline style, as used in this Directive. 

(1) Each directive must contain the following elements: 

(a) A section stating the purpose of the directive. 

(b) A section giving instructions for replacing a previous directive, 

cancellation, etc., unless the directive is a new issuance. 

(c) A section summarizing the policy of MRP. This section usually 

begins with “It is MRP policy to...” 

(d) A section stating responsibilities of supervisors, managers, and 

employees. 

(e) A section stating where more information about the Directive may 

be obtained and where the Directive is located. 

(2) Directives also may contain the following elements, if applicable: 

(a) A section citing authorities/references. 

(b) A section containing definitions, if needed. 

(c) A background section to provide a brief summary of the 

information or the circumstances that necessitates issuance of the 

directive. 

b. Notices may be written in the outline style of a directive or in a letter style. The 

outline style usually is better when providing detailed procedures. The letter style 

is useful when providing general information or when the information provided is 

very brief. 

10. FILING AND STOCKING OF ISSUANCES 

a. All offices must establish procedures to ensure that up-to-date sets of issuances 

are maintained. At their discretion, offices may maintain some or all of MRP 

issuances as electronic files. Electronic file copies may be stored on stand-alone 

computers, on local or wide area networks, on floppy disks, or any other suitable 

computer storage medium that allows for easy retrieval by users. Unless 

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otherwise directed, file all issuances in numerical order according to the most 

current Index, as shown in the website: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/library and 

AMS Table of Contents at http://www.ams.usda.gov/issuances. 

b. Copies of issuances may be requested from APHIS, Printing, Distribution, and 

Mail Branch, Unit 1, Room 1A01, USDA Center, 4700 River Road, Riverdale, 

Maryland 20737. Telephone: 301-734-5524. Additionally, all new issuances are 

available online at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/library and 

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

11. INQUIRIES 

Direct questions concerning this Directive to the FIRM at 301-734-7477/7908. 

/s/ 

William J. Hudnall 

Deputy Administrator 

MRP Business Services 

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