December 17, 2020

TRANSMITTED VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL

Erin Sutherland

Animal Welfare Institute

900 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20003

RE: 2019-FSIS-00418-F

 Humane Handling

Dear Ms. Sutherland:

This is the final response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, dated 

July 1, 2019, to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection 

Service (FSIS), in which you requested a copy of noncompliance records and 

memorandums of interview related to humane handling and slaughter, from April 1, 

2019 to June 30, 2019. We received your request in our office on July 1, 2019.

The FSIS FOIA staff works with subject matter experts across the Agency to locate 

responsive documents. For this request, we conducted a records search in the Office of 

Planning, Analysis and Risk Management. FSIS’ search began on July 2, 2019. Our 

searches include responsive records in FSIS’ control on that date.

We have located 142 pages that are responsive to your request. After a thorough review, 

we have determined that portions of these pages are exempt from disclosure under

(b)(4) and (b)(6) of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552, as amended. Accordingly, this request is 

granted in part.

Exemption 4 of the FOIA protects “trade secrets and commercial or financial

information obtained from a person [that is] privileged or confidential.” 5 U.S.C. § 

552(b)(4). The exemption covers two distinct categories of information in federal 

agency records, (1) trade secrets, and (2) information that is (a) commercial or financial, 

and (b) obtained from a person, and (c) privileged or confidential. In this instance, the 

agency is withholding confidential commercial information obtained from the 

establishments, that is customarily treated as private by the businesses. Therefore, the 

information is considered confidential.

Portions of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure under FOIA Exemption 6, 

5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6). Exemption 6 protects information that would constitute an 

unwarranted invasion of an individual’s personal privacy. The types of information 

withheld under Exemption 6 include the names, addresses, or cell phone numbers of 

employees of Establishments and third parties, including, but not limited to interviewees 

or customers.

Food Safety and 

Inspection Service

1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW.

Washington, D.C.

20250
Erin Sutherland

Page 2 

An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

 Be Food Safe: CLEAN: Wash Hands and Surfaces Often SEPARATE: Separate Raw Meats from Other Foods

COOK: Cook ToThe Right Temperature CHILL: Refrigerate Food Promptly

You may appeal this determination within 90 days from the date of this letter. Your appeal should 

include copies of your original request and this response, as well as a discussion of the reasons 

supporting your appeal. The envelope should be plainly marked to indicate that it contains a 

FOIA appeal. If you decide to appeal this determination, please send your appeal to:

 

 Paul Kiecker

 Administrator 

 Department of Agriculture

 Food Safety and Inspection Service

 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.

 Room 1170, South Building

 Washington, DC 20250-3700

Please be advised that your FOIA requests, including your identity and any information made 

available, is releasable to the public under any subsequent FOIA requests. However, FSIS does 

not release your personal privacy information, such as home addresses, telephone numbers, or 

Social Security Numbers, all of which are protected from disclosure under FOIA Exemption 6.

If you have any questions about the processing of your request or about the USDA’s FOIA 

regulations, please contact Ethan Pickrell at 202-260-8912 or via email at 

Ethan.Pickrell@usda.gov. You may seek dispute resolution services from me, the FSIS FOIA 

Public Liaison and FOIA Director at 202-690-2760 or via email at Arianne.Perkins@usda.gov. If 

you have general questions about FSIS’ FOIA procedures or regulations, please feel free to reach 

out to me as well.

You also have the option to seek assistance from the Office of Government Information

Services (OGIS). Please visit https://www.archives.gov/ogis/mediation-program/requestassistance for information about how to request OGIS assistance in relation to a FOIA request.

Thank you for your interest in FSIS programs and policies. 

Sincerely,

Arianne M. Perkins 

Director, Freedom of Information Act Staff

Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Education

Food Safety and Inspection Service

Attachment: Responsive Records (142 pages)