Agricultural Marketing Service, Specialty Crops Program, Specialty Crops Inspection Division

Remote Audits (August 2020)

SCI Division Inspection Series

Page 1 of 8

REMOTE AUDITS

Policy

Remote audits are defined, for the purpose of this document, as audits that are conducted wholly 

through off-site activities, such as a combination of interactive audit sessions using platforms like 

Zoom or Skype, time spent by the auditor to review documentation, and phone calls. All this time 

is considered billable audit time.

Remote audits may be appropriate when the performance of an on-site audit is prohibitive. Some 

reasons for a remote audit are:

• Geographical area is under emergency protocols/travel restrictions, 

• Auditors are not available (for example, state funding lapse resulting in auditor furloughs), 

and/or

• Facility requests a distance audit due to need for social distancing or facility security.

A remote audit is initiated by a formal request by either the auditee or the auditor/audit office. The 

request can be made using the SC-237A by indicating “Remote Audit” in the “Other” block, in 

addition to selecting the audit service. 

All requests for a remote audit must be approved by the appropriate Audit Services Branch (ASB)

Program Coordinator. The auditor/audit office should submit the SC-237A requests to 

SCAudits@usda.gov (or other program specific email address), with the term “Remote Audit 

Request” in the subject line. The Program Coordinator will return a decision within 5 business 

days.

In general, remote audits will be considered appropriate for auditees who have established a good 

quality history through previous USDA audit activity. Remote audits will not be allowed for new 

auditees.

A remote audit is conducted just like an on-site audit, with the same expectations for an opening 

and closing meeting, document or record review, and interviews. There will be some activities 

that would normally be best addressed during an on-site audit, such as the observation of harvest 

activities. Guidance on how to identify these portions of the audit for later, on-site activity will be 

provided to auditors during training and/or by the ASB Program Coordinator.

An on-site audit is required as soon as possible after the issue which justified a remote audit has 

been resolved. The on-site audit will focus on those areas that were not included in the remote 
SCI Division Inspection Series Remote Audits

Effective Date: August 2020 Page 2 of 8

audit, verification that established systems are fully implemented, and review of corrective actions 

that might have been taken as the result of previous audits.

USDA, ASB will bill the applicant for the initial, remote audit, as appropriate for their review and 

certification time. ASB will not bill the applicant for any review time associated with the later onsite audit report.

Procedure

Pre-audit 

1. Auditee or auditor/audit office submits a formal request for a remote audit to 

SCAudits@usda.gov (or program specific email address).

2. ASB Program Coordinator reviews and approves or disapproves the request based on an 

established risk assessment.

3. Auditor confirms with the auditee their understanding that an on-site audit is required as 

soon as possible after the issue which justified a remote audit has been resolved.

4. Auditor establishes with the auditee how the documents will be shared and the meeting 

platform that will be used. Auditor should check access prior to the scheduled audit time. 

Document sharing might be through:

a) Hard copies via delivery

b) Digital copies via email 

c) Digital copies via auditee’s established cloud storage, such as OneDrive, Dropbox,

or Google Docs (not currently available for federal auditors)

d) Online screen sharing via the meeting platform

Example meeting platforms are Zoom, Facetime, Blackboard, and Skype. The auditee 

should be given the opportunity to establish the platform of their choice. 

5. Auditor establishes with the auditee that documentation and personnel will need to be 

available for review and interview. 

6. If documents are to be provided by the auditee in advance of the interactive portion of the 

audit, the auditor establishes with the auditee what documents to provide and when these 

documents should be provided.

7. Auditor establishes an audit plan which is appropriate for the audit service. Interactive 

activities/meetings should go no longer than a total of 4 hours per day. Breaks should be 

scheduled. This may require an audit to be conducted over multiple days but should be 

completed within a period of five business days, if possible. See Attachment 1 for the audit 

plan template.

8. Auditor should review the food safety or quality management system manual, as well as 

any additional documentation provided by the auditee, prior to the interactive audit session, 

to be as prepared as possible prior to the interactive portion of the audit.
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9. Auditor sends the auditee and the audit team the audit plan and cost estimate at least 48 

hours prior to the audit. The cost estimate should be based on one auditor’s (usually the 

lead auditor) time, and not include any additional auditor’s time due to training or 

evaluations. See Attachment 2 for a cost estimate template.

Audit 

1. During the opening meeting, in addition to the standard items that are reviewed, the auditor 

confirms:

a) That an on-site audit will be performed, covering any elements that were not 

covered during the off-site audit, as appropriate for the audit service. If 

unannounced audits are required, the on-site audit may replace one of these. 

b) That any received documents will be returned to the auditee or destroyed. If 

returned, the auditor will bill for postage.

2. The auditor conducts the audit following the similar protocols as an on-site audit. It is 

understood that it will not be possible to address certain items which would be covered 

during an on-site audit, such as observations of harvest, receipt and shipping, and 

processing practices. However, what can be covered might be a deeper dive into the 

documented procedure, review of records that show compliance with the procedure, and 

interviews with the personnel responsible for carrying out the procedure. 

Post-audit 

1. Auditor completes and submits the audit report following established protocols for the 

audit service. There must be an indication on the report that the audit was conducted 

remotely, for example, a comment such as “Remote audit conducted at the request of 

_(requestor’s name)_, due to _(reason for remote audit)_.” in the general comment area.

2. Auditor disposes of any proprietary materials, either returning them to the auditee or 

shredding them (hard copies), or deleting from computer (digital).

3. Auditor schedules on-site audit as appropriate for the audit service.

On-site audit

1. The auditor must document the on-site audit activity using the appropriate audit checklist for 

the chosen audit service. Guidance and/or training will be provided by ASB on how to use the 

checklist for this purpose.

2. In the general comment area, the auditor should state “On-site audit performed as a follow-up 

to a previous remote audit.”

3. The auditor must submit the report for review to SCAudits@usda.gov (or program specific 

email address), following the formal protocols for audit report reviews. 
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ATTACHMENT I - AUDIT PLAN

Link to the electronic copy of the Audit Plan template.

Guidance on how to complete the Audit Plan:

Name of Company (Auditee): Address (Audited Site):

Put the name(s) of the producer/processor who 

has requested the audit.

Put the address(es) of the producer/processor who 

has requested the audit.

Purpose/Products/Scope of Audit: Dates and Time of Audit

State the audit service, including the parts or 

sections to be included, the commodities, and 

other information needed to fully describe the 

scope of the audit.

Put the established dates and times for the audit.

Lead Auditor's Name (Print Name) Additional Audit Team Members (Print Name(s))

Put the name of the lead auditor in this space.

List the name(s) of the personnel who will be joining 

the audit, indicating observer(s), evaluator(s), or 

auditor(s).

Type of Audit: On-site Remote* Platform:

*In order to maintain certification, remote audits will require an additional on-site audit as soon as possible, after 

the issue which justified a remote audit has been resolved and as appropriate for the audit service. 

The "Remarks" area may be used to take notes or record information needed for the audit. 

Date and Time

(adjustments may be 

made as the audit 

proceeds)

Audit Activities

Remarks

State the date and time 

for each of the agenda 

items. 1. Opening meeting

Put any explanations or notes needed here 

to further describe the audit activity. For 

example, list the staff/positions that you 

wish to interview.

2. Walk-through facility to verify

implementation of procedures

3. Verify applicable procedures related to 

customer and regulatory requirements

4. Verify applicable records related to the 

required procedures and policies

5. Review status of corrective actions 

related to previously identified audit 

findings

Adjust the agenda 

items to match your 

plan for conducting 

the audit.

Indicate whether the 

audit was conducted 

on-site or remote, 

and if remote, the 

platform used.
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6. Prepare summary of deficiencies

7. Closing meeting
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ATTACHMENT II – COST ESTIMATE

Link to the electronic copy of the Remote Audit Cost Estimate template.

Guidance on how to complete the Remote Audit Cost Estimate:

Auditee Name Put the name(s) of the producer/processor who has requested the audit.

Location Put the location of the auditee.

Audit Dates This would be the proposed dates for the audit.

Lead Auditor Put the name of the auditor that will be conducting the audit.

Estimated Time or Cost Remarks

Interactive Audit 

Time (remote audit)

This would be a rough estimate of the 

time for the remote/interactive portion 

of the audit. 

Put any explanatory 

comments in these spaces.

Pre-audit Time 

(audit preparations 

and document 

review)

This would be an estimate of the time 

needed to prepare for the audit, 

including time for review of the 

submitted documentation.

Post-audit Time 

(report preparation)

This would be your rough estimate on 

how much time it will take to prepare 

the audit report.

Review and 

Certification Time

This would be our standard estimate on 

how much time it will take for ASB 

review, certification, and billing time. 

Please use 3 hours.

On-site Audit Time 

(as a follow-up to a 

remote audit -

includes travel and 

audit time)

This would be a rough estimate of the 

time for the on-site audit, including 

associated travel time.

Other Time (Audit 

Upload, etc.) 

If the auditee has requested upload of 

their audit report into Azzule, please 

add 1 hour.

Total Hours 0.00 

Audit Cost 

@$115.00/per hour $0.00

Travel Cost (air 

flight, etx.)

Input your travel cost, as appropriate. 

Currently you should only charge for 

airfare associated with the audit.

These are self-calculating 

boxes. Please check to 

make sure the calculations 

are correct.
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Other Charges 

(GFSI, postage, etc.)

Input other charges, as appropriate. 

Currently, the GFSI fee is $250.

Final Amount $0.00

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