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-2014 June 2014 – Changes 

from previous requirements in blue

Effective: January 2015

Approved by CMS 

Date Issued: 08/11/08

Date Revised: 01/13/15

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.

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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 AMI Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide 

2013 Edition;

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 AMI 

Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide 2013 Edition, 

found at the following web site address: 

231.1 http://animalhandling.org/ht/d/sp/i/26752/pid/26752

 

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 NON-AMBULATORY AND U.S. SUSPECTS

241 CATTLE

242 Written protocol in-place and enforced that precludes the receipt of or having 

non-ambulatory, disabled cattle on the harvest facility premise. In the event 

that animals become non-ambulatory or disabled at any time while present at 

the harvest facility, the animal will be humanely euthanized and the carcass 

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removed from the premise in a timely manner through contracted services or 

other means.

243 HOGS AND SHEEP

244 Written protocol in-place and enforced that ensures all animals designated by 

Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) as U.S. Suspects (9 CFR 301.2) that 

are slaughtered are appropriately segregated during the harvest and 

production processes and precluded from inclusion in any products purchased 

by AMS.

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 65 Program. Alternatively, at 

the option of the organization, the audits can be performed by QAD auditors. 

302 Audit findings thought to be in conflict with Food Safety and Inspection Service 

(FSIS) regulations will be communicated to the establishment’s FSIS Inspector 

in Charge (IIC) or designee. 

310 AUDIT FORMAT

311 AMS or the AMS accredited auditing firm will conduct audits utilizing the 

following format:

312 TRANSPORTATION SEGMENT (CHAPTER 3: AMI RECOMMENDED 

ANIMAL HANDLING GUIDELINES AND AUDIT GUIDE 2013 EDITION) 

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: AMI 

RECOMMENDED ANIMAL HANDLING GUIDELINES AND AUDIT GUIDE 

2013 EDITION) 

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. 

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

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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.

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 

SEMI-ANNUAL 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. 

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