AMENDMENT 3 TO 

SUPPLEMENT 213 BEEF 

SPECIAL TRIM, JUNE 2012

 APPROVED

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

Livestock, Poultry and Seed (LPS) Program

Food Safety and Commodity Specification (FSCS) Division

Room 2624 S-Bldg, Phone: (202) 692-0342

 Effective: March 2015

Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 03/31/2015

AMENDMENT 3 TO SUPPLEMENT 213 TO THE AMS MASTER SOLICITATION FOR 

THE PURCHASE OF BEEF SPECIAL TRIM FOR DISTRIBUTION TO CHILD 

NUTRITION AND OTHER FEDERAL FOOD AND NUTRITION ASSISTANCE 

PROGRAMS

This amendment is issued to make the following changes to Supplement 213:

1) All references to the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) are to 

be replaced with “Food Safety and Commodity Specification (FSCS) Division.”

2) Replace Attachment I and Attachment II with the attached Federal Purchase Program 

Specifications (FPPS) Beef Special Trim and Animal Handling and Welfare, dated January 

2015.

3) Delete Attachment III.

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.
APPROVED

FEDERAL PURCHASE 

PROGRAM SPECIFICATION 

(FPPS) FOR BEEF 

SPECIAL TRIM

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

Effective: March 2015

Approved by CMS 

Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 03/30/15

100 ITEM DESCRIPTION

110 Beef Special Trim will be limited to any combination of the following muscle 

systems: 

111 Peeled Knuckle – The peeled knuckle shall include the rectus femoris, and 

vastus lateralis, and may include the vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius. 

112 Chuck Tender – The chuck tender shall consist of the supraspinatus muscle 

only. 

113 Shoulder Clod Arm Meat – The shoulder clod arm meat shall include the 

triceps brachii muscles (long, medial and lateral head) only.

200 CHECKLIST OF REQUIREMENTS

201 All items must be produced in accordance with Food Safety and Inspection 

Service (FSIS) regulations and the AMS Checklist of Requirements. The 

contractor’s technical proposal, submitted to the FSCS Division, must adhere 

to the following checklist requirements. 

210 MATERIALS

211 MEAT COMPONENT

211.1 The contractor’s technical proposal shall describe the necessary processing 

steps (including pictures) to comply with the items below. 

ATTACHMENT I
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 03/30/15 2

211.1.2 Beef Round, Knuckle, Peeled or Beef Round, Knuckle, Full, Peeled - This 

item consists of the full knuckle or posterior portion of the full knuckle (rectus 

femoris, vastus lateralis, and may include vastus medialis, vastus 

intermedius). The knuckle shall (1) have the tensor faciae latae removed 

(peeled); (2) be butterflied to expose and remove the heavy connective tissue 

within the rectus femoris muscle and between the rectus femoris and vastus 

lateralis; (3) have the tendinous ends removed; and (4) have the sartorius

removed. 

211.1.3 Beef Chuck Tender - This item consists of the supraspinatus muscle, which 

lies dorsal to the medial ridge of the blade bone. The chuck tender shall be 

separated from other muscles through the natural seams. The large end 

(anterior end) shall be butterflied to expose and remove the heavy connective 

tissue within the muscle.

211.1.4 Beef Chuck, Shoulder Clod Arm Meat - This item is derived from the beef 

shoulder clod and shall consist of the large muscle system of the thick end of 

the clod (triceps brachii – long, medial and lateral heads only). The shank 

end shall be butterflied to expose and remove heavy connective tissue 

associated with the elbow tendon.

211.2 Domestic Origin Of Meat Component – Beef must originate from U.S. 

produced livestock as defined in the Master Solicitation and Supplement.

211.3 Harvesting (Slaughtering) – Cattle will be harvested in facilities that comply 

with the following requirements:

211.3.1 Humane Handling – Cattle will be humanely handled in accordance with all 

applicable FSIS regulations and AMS requirements.

211.3.2 Pathogen Intervention Steps – Include at least two pathogen intervention 

steps. One of the intervention steps shall be steam pasteurization, an organic 

acid rinse, or a 180°F hot water wash and must be a critical control point 

(CCP) in the establishment’s FSIS recognized slaughter process Hazard 

Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan.

211.3.3 Spinal Cord Removal – Remove all spinal cord material during the harvesting 

process.

211.3.4 Carcass Testing – Routinely test carcasses for Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia 

coli O157 (including O157:H7 and O157:Non-Motile (NM); herein referred to 

as E. coli O157:H7) at CCP to verify effectiveness of interventions.

211.4 Boneless Beef – Only fresh-chilled boneless special trim which comply with 

the following requirements and has never been previously frozen will be 

allowed:
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Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 03/30/15 3

211.4.1 Traceability – Contractors are responsible for providing sufficient product 

traceability and must have records to verify the source of raw materials used 

in each production lot.

211.4.2 Handling – All boneless beef must be maintained in excellent condition. The 

contractor’s technical proposal shall include detailed production scheduling 

that addresses time and temperature controls necessary to maintain excellent 

condition of the boneless beef.

211.4.3 Objectionable Materials – The following objectionable materials shall be 

excluded: Major lymph glands (prefemoral, popliteal, and prescapular), 

thymus gland, bone, cartilage, sciatic (ischiatic) nerve, heavy connective 

tissue (shoulder tendon, elbow tendon, silver skin, sacrociatic ligament, 

opaque periosteum, tendinous ends of shanks, patellar ligament (stifle joint).

211.5 Mechanically Separated – Beef that is mechanically separated from bone with 

automatic deboning systems or advanced meat (lean) recovery (AMR) 

systems is not allowed.

212 NON-MEAT COMPONENTS

212.1 Non-meat components such as spinal cord, organ tissue, and foreign material 

are not allowed.

213 FAT LIMITATIONS

213.1 Maximum average surface fat thickness – Peeled/Denuded, Surface 

Membrane Removed (90 percent lean exposed). Flake fat cannot exceed 1⁄8-

inch in depth at any point.

214 GRADE REQUIREMENT

214.1 No grade requirement.

215 STATE OF REFRIGERATION

215.1 Fresh-Chilled or Frozen as specified in the Supplement and/or Solicitation. 

When Fresh-Chilled is specified, product will be maintained and delivered at a 

temperature not less than 28°F (-2.2°C) or higher than 40°F (4.4°C). When 

frozen is specified, product will be frozen to an internal temperature of not 

higher than 0° F (-17.8°C) within 72 hours from the time of final fabrication of 

the lot.

220 PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY

220.1 The contractor’s technical proposal will assure that all packaging, packing, 

labeling, closure, marking, and palletization comply with the National Motor 

Freight Regulations and FSIS regulations and the requirements listed below.
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Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 03/30/15 4

221 PACKAGING

221.1 For Beef Special Trim to be delivered frozen, product shall be bulk packaged 

without use of plastic liner material. When Beef Special Trim is to be

delivered fresh-chilled, product shall be placed into plastic lined combo bins 

and shall be covered so that the container arrives at the destination intact.

222 PACKING

222.1 Frozen bulk packaged Beef Special Trim shall be packed into containers to a 

net weight of 60 pounds. Only one style and size of leak proof container will 

be used for each item within any one delivery unit. Fresh-chilled Beef Special 

Trim bulk packaged product shall be placed in plastic lined combo-bins to a 

weight of between 1850 to 2250 pounds.

223 CLOSURE

223.1 Sixty (60) pound shipping containers shall be strapped. Combo-bins shall be 

sealed.

224 LABELING

224.1 Shipping container labels will be illustrated in the contractor’s technical 

proposal and contain the following information:

224.2 USDA shield at least 2 inches high and appearing on the top of the container 

or on the principal display panel.

224.3 Applicable purchase order number.

224.4 A traceability code that is traced back to establishment number, production 

lot, and date.

224.5 The appropriate product name and material number listed in the table below 

for each of the items.

Item Material Number 

Beef, Boneless, Special Trim, Frozen 100156

Beef ,Boneless, Special Trim, Chilled 100171 
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Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 03/30/15 5

224.6 The words “For Further Processing into Cooked Product” will appear on the 

principal display panel.

224.7 A nutrition facts panel based on actual nutritional analysis of the product.

224.8 Ingredient declaration (including single ingredient products).

224.9 An allergen statement in a format which complies with the Food Allergen 

Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) for any product which 

contains milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, soy or 

wheat; e.g. Allergen: This product contains ______.

230 PALLETIZED UNIT LOADS

231 All product shall be stacked on new or well-maintained pallets and palletized 

with shrink wrap plastic, unless otherwise specified in the solicitation. Pallet 

loads shall be stacked in a manner that minimizes the overhang of the 

shipping containers over the edges of the pallets and exposes each shipping 

container’s principal display panel to facilitate certification examinations.

240 DELIVERY UNIT

241 The delivery unit shall be 42,000 pounds (18,900 kg.) net weight (700 frozen 

shipping containers or 20 fresh-chilled combo-bins).

250 DELIVERED PRODUCT

251 SIZE AND STYLE OF CONTAINER

251.1 Only one size and style of shipping container may be used in any one delivery 

unit.

252 TEMPERATURE

252.1 Product temperature will not exceed 0°F at the time of shipment and delivery 

for frozen delivery, 40°F at the time of shipment and delivery for fresh-chilled 

delivery.

253 SEALING

253.1 All products must be delivered to AMS assigned destinations under seal with 

tamper proof, tamper resistant, serially numbered, high security seals that 

meet the American Society for Testing and Materials Standard (ASTM)

F1157-04 and/or the International Organization for Standards (ISO) 17712-

2010 as required under the Master Solicitation. Seals shall be 1⁄8th-inch 

diameter cable, high-security bolt, or equivalent. 

260 PRODUCT ASSURANCE
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 03/30/15 6

261 WARRANTY AND COMPLAINT RESOLUTION

261.1 Warranty – The contractor will guarantee that the product complies with all 

contractual requirements required under the Master Solicitation and 

Supplement.

261.2 Complaint Resolution – The contractor’s technical proposal must provide 

steps taken to resolve complaints received on the product (i.e. point of 

contact, cause and effect analysis, corrective and preventative actions taken, 

and product replacement).

262 NON-CONFORMING PRODUCT

262.1 The contractor must have documented procedures that assure 

nonconforming product identification, segregation, and disposition in order to 

prevent misuse and that nonconforming product is not delivered to USDA. 

The plan must address 1) control and segregation of non-conforming product, 

2) removal of any USDA markings, and 3) disposition of non-conforming 

product, including vendor notification in writing to the FSCS Division of final 

disposition (e.g., diverted to commercial production, cooked or destroyed).

263 CONTACTOR CHECKLOADING

263.1 Contractor will perform checkloading examinations at the time of shipment 

 and issue a contractor’s certificate to accompany each shipment that includes 

 all of the following information:

263.1.1 Purchase Order Number/Purchase Order Line Item Number;

263.1.2 Sales Order Number/Sales Order Line Item Number;

263.1.3 Destination of shipment;

263.1.4 Name of Product and applicable Material Number;

263.1.5 Shipping Date;

263.1.6 Production lot number(s) and date each lot was produced along with shipping 

 container and immediate container code(s) and the code used that provides 

 traceability to establishment number, production lot and date;

263.1.7 Count of shipping containers and total projected net weight in each production 

 lot;

263.1.8 Identity of car or truck (car numbers and letters, seals, truck license, etc.) as 

 applicable;

263.1.9 Contractor certification that product conforms with the applicable specification 

 (FPPS-ST-2015);
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 03/30/15 7

263.1.10 Count and projected net weight verified and;

263.1.11 Signature of company official responsible for checkloading.
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.

ATTACHMENT II
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 08/11/08

Date Revised: 01/13/15 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 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 
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 08/11/08

Date Revised: 01/13/15 3

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.
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 08/11/08

Date Revised: 01/13/15 4

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.