An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

 March 26, 2021

TRANSMITTED VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL

Erin Sutherland 

AWI 

900 Pennsylvania Ave., SE

Washington, DC 20003

@awionline.org

RE: 2019-FSIS-00258-F 

Humane Methods of Slaughter Act 

Dear Ms. Sutherland: 

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

April 1, 2019, to the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service 

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

interview regarding humane handling and slaughter, from January 1, 2019 to March 31, 

2019. We received your request in our office on April 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 (OPARM). FSIS’ search began on April 1, 

2019. Our search includes responsive records in FSIS’ control on that date. 

We have located 207 pages that are responsive to your request. After a thorough review, 

we have determined that portions of these documents 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. The information was 

submitted to USDA by a business. We have determined that these records contain 

commercial or financial information that is customarily treated as private by the business 

submitters. 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 

 

(b) (6)
Ms. Sutherland

Page 2 

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

COOK: Cook To The 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, D.C. 20250-3700

FSIS.FOIA@USDA.GOV 

Please be advised that your FOIA request, including your identity and the 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 way this request was handled, please contact Tiffanie 

Newman at 202-708-8172 or via email at Tiffanie.Newman@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 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. 

Additionally, you may contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at the 

National Archives and Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation services they 

offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government Information 

Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College 

Park, Maryland 20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at 202-741-5770; or facsimile at 

202-741-5769.

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

Enclosure