Protecting Public Health and Preventing 

Foodborne Illness

Food Safety and Inspection Service

ANNUAL PLAN

FISCAL YEAR 2020

Contents

Message From the Administrator

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Introduction

Agency Performance Management and Governance

Goal 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

Outcome 1.1: Prevent Contamination 

Result 1: Drive Compliance With Food Safety Statutes and Regulations

Result 2: Strengthen Sampling Projects

Result 3: Ensure Establishments Are Meeting Pathogen Reduction Performance Standards

Result 4: Promote Food Defense Practices

Outcome 1.2: Limit Illness From Regulated Products

Result 5: Improve Food Safety at In-Commerce Facilities

Result 6: Improve Response to Foodborne Illness Outbreaks and Adulteration Events

Result 7: Increase Public Awareness of Recalls, Foodborne Illness, and Safe Food-Handling Practices 

Goal 2: Modernize Inspection Systems, Policies, and the Use of Scientific Approaches

Outcome 2.1: Improve Food Safety and Humane Handling Practices Through Adoption of Innovative Approaches

Result 8: Modernize Scientific Techniques and Inspection Procedures

Result 9: Increase Adoption of Humane Handling Best Practices

Outcome 2.2: Enhance Access to Complete and Accurate Information To Inform Decisions

Result 10: Improve the Reliability, Access, and Timely Collection and Distribution of Information and Data

Goal 3: Achieve Operational Excellence

Outcome 3.1: Maintain a Well-Trained and Engaged Workforce

Result 11: Improve Recruitment and Retention for Mission-Critical Positions

Result 12: Enhance Training and Development Opportunities Across Competency Areas

Result 13: Ensure Equal Opportunity and a Diverse and Inclusive Environment

Outcome 3.2: Improve Processes and Services

Result 14: Enhance Efficiency and Effectiveness of Key Business Processes and Systems

Result 15: Improve Service Delivery

Cross-Cutting

Result 16: Enhance Collaboration With Our Partners

Appendix: Collaborations, Partnerships, Organizations, Meetings and Conferences

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FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN i 
I am proud to publish the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Annual Plan of the United 

States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection 

Service (FSIS). This is the fourth annual plan released under the FSIS 

2017-2021 Strategic Plan. It outlines how the Agency will continue to work 

toward our strategic goals over the next fiscal year.

In keeping with our efforts to modernize inspection systems, business 

practices, and policies, much of our work for FY 2020 builds upon data 

collection and program evaluations completed during FY 2018 and FY 

2019. We will implement science-based recommendations from program 

evaluations to drive sampling programs for microbiological and chemical 

hazards, ensure robust systems to verify humane handling, and improve 

how Agency directives and notices are delivered to field personnel. We 

Message From the Administrator

will also capitalize on 2 years of consumer research studies to deliver targeted food safety messages aimed at addressing the most common unsafe food handling practices and preventing foodborne illness. The Agency will continue 

this systematic, data-driven approach to evaluation and modernization in FY 2020 as we take a closer look at foreign 

material and undeclared allergen recalls.

FSIS will continue to focus our surveillance on the processes and facilities that pose the highest risk to public health. 

To enhance transparency to consumers and industry, we will increase the number of establishment-specific data sets 

that are publicly available. Through outreach to small and very small establishments, we will provide training and 

resources to support small businesses in meeting food safety and humane handling requirements. 

To effectively identify and respond to outbreaks of foodborne illness, we will continue to collaborate with State and 

Federal partners to modernize laboratory infrastructure and improve communications. As we embrace evolving 

science and technology, we are poised in FY 2020 to explore the use of new laboratory and information technology to 

quantify foodborne pathogens. 

At the heart of any annual plan is its people. As we continue to work toward achieving operational excellence, it is 

the dedicated day-to-day work of FSIS employees that drives us closer to our public health goals and our vision that 

everyone’s food is safe.

Carmen M. Rottenberg

Administrator, Food Safety and Inspection Service

ii FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN
Acronyms and Abbreviations

ADR Alternative Dispute Resolution

AFDO Association of Food and Drug Officials

AMR Antimicrobial Resistance

APHIS Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

APHL Association of Public Health Laboratories

APMS Adulterated Product Monitoring System

ARS Agricultural Research Service

CARE Compliance, Assistance, Review, and Evaluation

CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CFP Conference for Food Protection

CIFOR Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response

CSI Consumer Safety Inspector

DVMS District Veterinary Medical Specialist 

E. coli Escherichia coli

EEO Equal Employment Opportunity

EEO/CR Equal Employment Opportunity and Civil Rights

EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

EG Enterprise Governance

EHS-Net Environmental Health Specialists Network

EIAO Enforcement Investigation and Analysis Officer

ERM Enterprise Risk Management

EWA Early Warning Alert

EWG Evaluation Workgroup

FDA U.S. Food and Drug Administration

FERN Food Emergency Response Network

FEVS Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey

FI Food Inspector

FoodNet Foodborne Disease Active Surveillance Network

FSIS Food Safety and Inspection Service

FOIA Freedom of Information Act

FRIO Financial Reporting Improvements and Optimization

FSA Food Safety Assessment

FY Fiscal Year

GAO Government Accountability Office 

GCP Good Commercial Practices 

Gen-FS Genomics for Food and Feed Safety

HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point

HH Humane Handling

HMSA Humane Methods of Slaughter Act 

HP FSWG Healthy People Food Safety Workgroup

HP FSWG Healthy People Food Safety Workgroup

HR Human Resources

ICLN Integrated Consortium of Laboratory Networks

IFORC Interagency Foodborne Outbreak Response Collaboration

IFSAC Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration

INFAL Inter-American Network of Food Analysis Laboratories 

IPP Inspection Program Personnel

IRAC Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium

IT Information Technology

Lm Listeria monocytogenes

LMA Labor Management Agreement

LRN Laboratory Response Network 

LSAS Label Submission and Approval System

MASPM Mission Area Senior Program Manager 

MOU Memorandum of Understanding

MPI Meat and Poultry Inspection

NACMCF National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods

NACMPI National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection

NARMS National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System

NASEM National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

NRP National Residue Program

NRTE Not-Ready-to-Eat

NSSE National Special Security Events

OCFO Office of the Chief Financial Officer

OPM Office of Personnel Management

PFGE Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis

PFP Partnership for Food Protection

PHIS Public Health Information System

PHR Public Health Regulation

PHRE Public Health Risk Evaluation

PHV Public Health Veterinarian

POE Point-of-Entry

RRT Rapid Response Team

RSA Robust Systematic Approach 

RTE Ready-to-Eat

SCORE Surveillance, Complaints, and Outbreaks Response Enterprise

SRT Self-Reporting Tool

STEC Shiga toxin-producing E. coli

USDA United States Department of Agriculture

WGS Whole Genome Sequencing

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN iii 
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the public health agency in USDA whose mission is to protect the 

public’s health by ensuring the safety of the Nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and processed egg products. 

FSIS ensures food safety through the authorities of the Federal Meat Inspection Act,1 the Poultry Products Inspection Act,2

 and the Egg Products Inspection Act,3 as well as humane animal handling through the Humane Methods of 

Slaughter Act.4

FSIS employs approximately 9,400 employees working collectively to conduct a broad range of food safety activities 

to achieve FSIS’ overall vision - that everyone’s food is safe. FSIS employees are highly trained, motivated, and skilled 

professionals working as “one team with one purpose.” FSIS activities contribute to USDA’s FY 2018-2022 Strategic 

Plan in its Goal 7, Objective 7.1, “Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health,” and FY 2020 marks the fourth 

year of the Agency’s FSIS 2017-2021 Strategic Plan. 

The goals, outcomes, and objectives set forth in FSIS’ FY 2017-2021 Strategic Plan directly align to the Agency’s 

annual plans and provide an integrated framework for understanding how FSIS fulfills our mission and addresses 21st 

century public health challenges. 

1 Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA, P.L. 90-492).

2 Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA, P.L. 90-492).

3 Egg Products Inspection Act (EPIA, P.L. 91-597).

4 Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA, P.L. 85-765).

Introduction

Vision: Everyone’s food is safe

Mission: Protecting the public’s health by ensuring the safety 

of meat, poultry, and processed egg products

OUTCOME OBJECTIVE

1.1.1 - Drive Compliance With Food Safety Statutes and Regulations 

1.1.2 - Strengthen Sampling Programs 

1.1.3 - Ensure Establishments Are Meeting Pathogen Reduction Performance Standards 

1.1.4 - Promote Food Defense Practices 

1.2.1 - Improve Food Safety at In Commerce Facilities 

1.2.2 - Enhance Response to Foodborne Illness Outbreaks and Adulteration Events 

1.2.3 - Increase Public Awareness of Recalls, Foodborne Illness, and Safe Food 

Handling Practices

1.1 - Prevent Contamination

1.2 - Limit Illness From Regulated 

Products

GOAL 1

Prevent Foodborne 

Illness and Protect 

Public Health

2.1.1 - Modernize Scientific Techniques and Inspection Procedures 

2.1.2 - Increase Adoption of Humane Handling Best Practices 

2.2.1 - Improve the Reliability, Access, and Timely Collection and Distribution 

of Information 

2.1 - Improve Food Safety and

Humane Handling Practices 

Through Adoption of Innovative 

Approaches

2.2 - Enhance Access to 

Complete and Accurate 

Information to Inform Decisions 

GOAL 2

Modernize Inspection 

Systems, Policies, and 

the Use of Scientific 

Approaches 

3.1.1 - Improve Recruitment and Retention for Mission Critical Positions 

3.1.2 - Enhance Training and Development Opportunities Across Competency Areas 

3.1.3 - Ensure Equal Opportunity and a Diverse and Inclusive Environment 

3.2.1 - Enhance Efficiency and Effectiveness of Key Business Processes and Systems 

3.2.2 - Improve Service Delivery 

3.1 - Maintain A Well-Trained 

and Engaged Workforce 

3.2 - Improve Processes and 

Services

GOAL 3

Achieve Operational 

Excellence

ACCOUNTABLE • COLLABORATIVE • EMPOWERED • SOLUTIONS-ORIENTED 

iv FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 
Agency Performance Management and Governance

FSIS will implement this FY 2020 Annual Plan by utilizing its performance management framework, which includes 

monitoring and reporting processes underpinned by the Agency’s enterprise governance (EG) process. FSIS fosters 

a performance-based environment with executives and senior staff assigned to regularly track and monitor progress, 

ensure FSIS meets intended targets, and make timely and necessary adjustments to key activities or approaches. 

Our annual plan this year includes a greater focus on outcome-based measures, while continuing to track other key 

milestones, internal controls, and outputs.

FSIS has used its EG process to present public health and other mission-related topics to executive leadership, particularly those topics that cut across programs and/or have Agencywide implications, for the purpose of collaborative decision making and implementation. All new investments, major projects, proposed policy initiatives, and major changes 

to existing policies go through the EG process. 

Three governance boards regularly meet to deliberate, and along with their associated work groups and committees 

(sub-boards), provide key analysis, evaluation, and recommendations regarding program enhancements to support 

data driven decision making. The Agency is also integrating new Office of Management and Budget enterprise risk 

management (ERM) requirements into its current governance activities and structure. To this end, FSIS leveraged 

existing internal risk-related expertise to develop an ERM profile and will continue to work on incorporating ERM into 

its decision-making culture.

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 1 
GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

Outcome 1.1: Prevent Contamination 

Result 1: Drive Compliance With Food Safety Statutes and Regulations

This result primarily focuses on the work of thousands of FSIS inspectors across the United States conducting daily 

inspection activities, both online and offline, verifying industry compliance with applicable food safety regulatory 

requirements, which extends to both domestically produced and imported food products. 

Key areas of emphasis to drive compliance and reduce the risk of FSIS-regulated product contamination include the 

following: 

• Conducting Public Health Risk Evaluations (PHRE) and Food Safety Assessments (FSA) to ensure regulated establishments 

have developed and implemented food safety systems that reduce or prevent food safety hazards.5

• Enhancing outreach to small and very small establishments and other domestic stakeholders about food safety requirements.

• Strengthening partnerships with and continuing review of State Meat and Poultry Inspection (MPI) Programs.

• Ensuring an effective international equivalence process.

• Verifying the safety of exported products and that they meet foreign country requirements.

PHREs: Performing PHREs and FSAs can result in improvements to an establishment’s Hazard Analysis and Critical 

Control Point (HACCP) system design, process controls, and/or a reduction in non-compliance that helps to reduce 

hazards present in food. In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to perform activities to reduce non-compliance and PHREs 

based on public health risk determinants. 

Outreach: For domestic stakeholders, including small and very small establishments, FSIS will continue to deploy 

innovative approaches to develop and deliver outreach regarding technical, scientific, and regulatory compliance information. This includes highlighting relevant Agency initiatives, recently published regulations, and associated industry 

guidelines through: monthly stakeholder meetings, industry roundtables, webinars, presentations at conferences, and 

individual establishment engagement. 

In FY 2019, FSIS also conducted 6 roundtable discussions with more than 250 people representing at least 120 plants 

from across the country to engage and support small and very small establishments and dedicated approximately 9 

percent of Enforcement Investigation and Analysis Officers’ (EIAO) time to direct outreach at official establishments. 

Building on successes and lessons learned from previous years, in FY 2020, the Agency will continue the EIAO Outreach Initiative and continue hosting and participating in roundtable discussions in areas of the country with concentrations of small and very small establishments. Using feedback and lessons learned from these and other outreach 

efforts, FSIS will conduct topical webinars, develop new and modify existing guidelines and other industry resources, 

and improve and streamline information available through the FSIS Small Plant Help Desk. 

5 The PHRE is a decision-making process that FSIS uses to determine whether an FSA needs to be scheduled. It is a distinct, separate activity from an FSA. 

See FSIS Directive 5100.4 Rev. 1. The purpose of an FSA is to assess and analyze an establishment’s food safety system to verify that the establishment is able to 

produce safe and wholesome meat or poultry products in accordance with FSIS statutory and regulatory requirements.

2 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 
GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

State MPI Programs: FSIS’ work in the area of compliance also includes evaluation of State MPI Programs. The 

Agency will continue its work to ensure that the 27 States with an MPI Program maintain food safety systems “at 

least equal to” the FSIS food safety inspection system. As in FY 2019, FSIS will continue in FY 2020 to conduct its 

reviews of State self-assessment submissions and perform annual onsite audits of State MPI systems and laboratory 

programs. Additionally, the Agency will continue monthly correlations with State Directors and encourage increased 

interaction between FSIS District Offices and State MPI Programs.

Imported Products: FSIS’ food safety mission also extends

to ensuring, through continuous monitoring, the safety of 

imported products. FSIS’ equivalence process ensures 

foreign countries that are eligible to export products to the 

United States maintain equivalent food safety inspection 

systems. This includes document review, point-of-entry (POE) 

reinspections of imported product, an onsite audit of each eligible 

country at least 36 months after the last published audit report, and outreach 

to the international community. In FY 2020, FSIS expects to see continued growth 

in the number of foreign countries seeking an equivalence determination from FSIS.

Document Review: FSIS will continue to improve the collection, monitoring, and review of documentation submitted 

by foreign governments regarding their food safety practices through the Self-Reporting Tool (SRT). In FY 2019, FSIS 

provided guidance materials to foreign countries to assist them with completing a new version of the SRT and conducted outreach on these materials by hosting five webinars that were attended by more than 70 individuals from 24 

countries. In FY 2020, FSIS will develop a dashboard that will include an inventory of SRT responses and supporting 

documentation for each equivalent country. The dashboard will be used to track SRT completeness and to measure 

the impact of the new SRT, guidance materials, and technical outreach efforts over time. Additionally, FSIS will develop and implement an outreach plan to ensure completeness of documentation for foreign inspection systems, clarify 

equivalence verification procedures, and reduce POE violations. 

POE Reinspections: Point-of-entry reinspection is one element of a three-part approach FSIS uses to evaluate and 

verify the ongoing equivalence of an exporting country’s food safety inspection system. FSIS import reinspection 

sampling allocates types of inspections for product received based on country profiles that take into consideration the 

amenable species and volume shipped, as well as samples that are for-cause. For-cause samples can be triggered 

by recent violative samples, issues identified during FSIS audits in eligible countries, and/or other data or information 

received. FSIS continues to utilize analytics tools to identify trends of concern from data obtained through foreign 

country audits and POE reinspection activities to direct the Agency’s annual sampling plan and support decisions on 

for-cause sampling initiatives.

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 3

State MPI Program
Onsite Audits: In FY 2019, FSIS conducted 21 equivalence verification audits in 23 different countries. Additionally, 

FSIS auditors took a more active role in helping the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) verify 

Foot-and-Mouth Disease requirements in foreign countries, and in credentialing foreign countries for Level 2 eAuthentication. This provides foreign countries access to FSIS’ Public Health Information System (PHIS) through which 

SRT documentation can be uploaded and transmitted electronically. In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to provide these 

services for APHIS and foreign countries, in addition to providing a multi-disciplinary approach to audits by including 

scientists and international policy experts in the on-site audit teams.

International Outreach: FSIS will continue working with foreign counterparts to share information about FSIS regulatory requirements and about how the Agency uses the latest technology to ensure protective public health standards 

for food safety. Outreach will be conducted through technical assistance exchange programs, meetings with foreign 

government officials and organizations, educational seminars, visits to FSIS laboratories and FSIS-regulated establishments. FSIS also intends to continue reaching out to international regulatory counterparts to share best practices 

and technological advances for modernizing existing food safety inspection systems, and work with them to improve 

food safety standards and vital health protections worldwide. 

Exported Products: FSIS’ food safety mission extends to ensuring the safety and integrity of the approximately 

17 billion pounds of FSIS-regulated product exported to more than 140 countries around the globe. In FY 2019, the 

Agency expanded its secure electronic export application and certification system—the PHIS export component—by 

an additional 21 countries. In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to expand the number of countries eligible to export through 

the secure PHIS system and to review export systems and processes to ensure the safety of exported product and 

that associated documents are timely, accurate, and in compliance with foreign country requirements.

6 This measure calculates the percentage of establishments scheduled for a PHRE due to specific public health criteria other than performance standards out of all establishments eligible for a PHRE, using PHIS as the data source. Expected performance is downward in small increments through FY 2021. The measure was modified 

in FY 2020 to exclude PHREs triggered by performance standards as these were not included in the original baseline for the measure.

GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

4 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of establishments scheduled for a PHRE due to public health risk determinants other than performance standards.6 

(1.1.1.1)

Develop by FY 2020 Q1, and implement by FY 2020 Q2, an international outreach and technical consultation plan based 

on foreign country equivalence needs and gaps, and export priorities. (1.1.1.3)

1.09%

ANNUAL PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of international audits conducted based on FY 2020 schedule. 90%

 ≥ 89%

 ≥ 92%

% of planned onsite State MPI Program system audits completed.

% of planned State MPI laboratory audits and reviews of State self-assessments completed.
GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

Outcome 1.1: Prevent Contamination 

Result 2: Strengthen Sampling Projects

This result focuses on optimizing FSIS’ annual sampling projects to inform Agency decision making and policy. Sampling informs FSIS’ performance standards, which are designed to help meet public health goals. The annual sampling 

plan will facilitate the gathering of knowledge on the relative risk of contamination of FSIS-regulated products. It will 

also continue to seek efficiencies by analyzing a single sample for multiple microbiological or chemical hazards, when 

possible. The FY 2020 Annual Sampling Plan was implemented on October 1, 2019, and will be publicly available by 

the end of October 2019. Having an effective annual sampling plan helps FSIS leverage new technology to increase 

precision, gain efficiencies, and better identify and characterize hazards to decrease their presence in food.

In FY 2018 and FY 2019, FSIS conducted an evaluation of its existing sampling projects to ensure, in part, that it is 

allocating its sampling and analytical resources as effectively as possible. The evaluation conducted was based on 

the overarching assumption that the principal value of sampling lies in the data generated and the use of those data to 

drive Agency decision making. In that evaluation, FSIS developed the following criteria which reflect how FSIS currently uses its sampling data in its decision making. Specifically, criteria include whether the sampling projects generate 

data to:

1. Assess individual establishments;

2. Conduct investigations;

3. Modernize Agency policies and regulations; and

4. Track the Agency’s progress, conduct national surveillance, and establish or support priorities.

Through this evaluation, FSIS recognized the need for, and developed, sample planning tools to estimate the optimum 

number of samples necessary to achieve intended goals of each sampling project. In FY 2019, FSIS began using 

these tools to evaluate current sampling projects. FSIS will publish a report on this evaluation in FY 2020 and will use 

the results of this evaluation to modify its annual sampling plan as needed. By implementing the recommendations, 

FSIS will more efficiently allocate and manage sampling resources while maximizing the benefits in Agency decision 

making and to public health. Those modifications will also help ensure that planned samples are collected and analyzed as scheduled. 

Taking into account the criteria and tools developed during the evaluation of sampling projects, the Agency is considering additional sampling projects including the following:

Beef – Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC): In FY 2019, FSIS redesigned its beef bench trim sampling project to 

improve collection rates. The percentages of assigned samples that were collected and tested increased from about 

40 percent to about 50 percent. In FY 2020, FSIS will announce in a Federal Register Notice the expansion of its sampling and testing for non-O157 STEC to all beef products currently analyzed for E. coli O157:H7.

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 5
GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

Pork – STEC: In FY 2019, FSIS continued analyzing raw intact and non-intact pork cuts and raw comminuted products for STEC. In FY 2020, FSIS will share sample enrichments with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) for 

further analysis of STEC recovery. 

Poultry – Salmonella and Campylobacter: In FY 2019, FSIS analyzed the results of its religious exempt, low volume, and mechanically separated poultry exploratory sampling projects. Based on these results, the Agency decided 

to discontinue its religious exempt and low volume projects in FY 2020 and is evaluating whether to also discontinue 

the mechanically separated poultry project. FSIS will communicate the results of those analyses and use those results 

to inform recommendations that will be incorporated into industry guidelines for lowering Salmonella and Campylobacter contamination in these commodities. In FY 2020, FSIS will also analyze the results of the remaining poultry 

exploratory sampling projects and determine next steps based on that analysis. 

Import Sampling: In FY 2020, FSIS is planning an evaluation of FSIS’ import sampling program to ensure it is optimized to provide the best information for Agency decision making.

6 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 
GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

Residue Sampling: FSIS collaborates with the National Residue Program (NRP) by, in part, identifying priority compounds of public health concern and utilizing this information to develop FSIS’ annual domestic and import residue 

sampling projects. In FY 2019, FSIS modernized the way in which it schedules State NRP samples to reflect production volume. FSIS intends to incorporate the FY 2020 NRP results, previously known as the Blue Book, into its FY 

2020 Annual Sampling Plan. The FY 2019 NRP results, also known as the Red Book, will be posted in early FY 2020. 

FSIS will continue to work through its interagency partners via the Surveillance Advisory Team and the Interagency 

Residue Control Group meetings to develop new residue sampling priorities and projects in FY 2021, as needed.

In FY 2019, FSIS expanded its periodic monitoring survey for dioxins (and dioxin-like compounds) to include Siluriformes. FSIS also added egg products to the chemical residue surveillance program. In FY 2020, FSIS will further 

expand the chemical residue surveillance program by: (1) including 16 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in 

muscle samples from condemned carcasses; (2) changing the sample collection point of poultry carcasses to a place 

prior to the application of chemical interventions, for detection of semicarbazide (SEM) as a marker for nitrofurazone 

residues; and (3) developing an internal procedure for addressing situations involving chemicals without established 

tolerances or other applicable regulatory levels, using a risk-based approach.

National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS): FSIS collaborates with its public health and food 

safety partners to monitor antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria. FSIS collects and analyzes samples from animal 

ceca and regulatory food products for bacteria that may carry AMR. In FY 2020, FSIS plans to expand NARMS sample substrates. 

Sample Collection and Analysis: Consistent with the evaluation of sampling resources described under this result, 

FSIS will evaluate sample collection and analysis rates and how these factors affect the sampling programs’ ability to 

meet policy objectives. Based on this evaluation, FSIS may revise the current sample allocations to better meet those 

policy objectives. FSIS will also work to ensure that PHIS establishment profiles accurately reflect production within 

an establishment, allowing the Agency to align sampling assignments with product availability, thus improving collection rates. FSIS will also assess reasons samples are discarded once received by the laboratory in order to propose 

options for reducing these occurrences.

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 7

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of eligible poultry establishments that are categorized. (1.1.2.1) 78%
GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

Outcome 1.1: Prevent Contamination 

Result 3: Ensure Establishments Are Meeting Pathogen Reduction Performance 

 Standards

This result focuses on using pathogen reduction performance standards to assess the food safety performance of 

establishments that slaughter and process poultry and meat products. FSIS performance standards are designed to 

help meet public health goals. 

Poultry – Salmonella: FSIS continues to implement a data-driven regulatory strategy to improve Salmonella control 

in raw poultry slaughter and processing establishments. In FY 2019, FSIS reevaluated its original method for assessing establishment performance against the current performance standards and implemented a new categorization methodology in November 2018. The category status reported is now based on FSIS sample results during the 

52-week window ending the last Saturday of the previous month, and no longer includes followup sampling results as

part of the moving window when determining establishment category status. The new categorization methodology is

less complex and assures that category status is more reflective of the current conditions in an establishment. In November 2018, FSIS also began posting on its website the category status of individual establishments producing raw

chicken parts and not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) comminuted chicken and turkey products. Web-posting this information

provides the public with tools and information to make informed food safety decisions.

Category 2 Alerts. In FY 2018, FSIS implemented a Category 2 Alert to ensure that establishments currently meeting 

a performance standard are aware when their Salmonella positive rate increases so that they can take steps to avoid 

falling into Category 3 status (i.e., designated as not meeting the standard). In FY 2019, FSIS assessed what percentage of establishments that received a Category 2 Alert did not subsequently exceed a performance standard. On 

average, with these alerts and subsequent actions by the establishment and FSIS, 87 percent of establishments that 

moved into Category 2 did not subsequently fail the performance standard or fall to Category 3 status. 

Uncategorized Establishments. 

Following implementation of FSIS’ new categorization methodology, the Agency observed an increase in the number 

of eligible establishments that could not be categorized because the minimum number of samples per window needed 

for categorization had not been collected. To address this issue, in FY 2019, FSIS evaluated options for increasing 

the number of categorized establishments and implemented sample allocation changes with the goal of increasing the 

percentage of eligible establishments categorized. About 28 percent of all eligible establishments, and over 38 percent 

of eligible establishments producing raw chicken parts, are not categorized. FSIS will continue monitoring the number 

of establishments categorized monthly. 

Chronic and Intermittent Category 3 Establishments. In FY 2019, the Agency issued an FSIS Notice instructing Inspection Program Personnel (IPP) on how to followup at establishments which have been chronically or intermittently 

assigned to Category 3. In FY 2020, FSIS will further refine its strategy for followup at such establishments and will 

issue an industry guideline specific to reducing Salmonella in raw poultry which will include best practices for regaining 

process control and meeting the performance standards.

8 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 
GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

Changes to Followup Sampling. In FY 2019, FSIS evaluated its followup sampling strategy. Potential changes being 

considered on the basis of that evaluation include adjusting the timing and number of followup samples collected. 

While these and other potential changes are considered, FSIS has continued to conduct followup sampling in establishments that do not meet a pathogen-reduction performance standard. In addition, FSIS evaluated both followup and 

routine sample results for establishments producing chicken or turkey (poultry) carcasses, raw chicken parts, or comminuted poultry products and issued a revised FSIS Notice that informs IPP that FSIS will schedule no more than 1 

set of 16 followup samples every 120 days.7 In addition, FSIS provided IPP with alerts that summarize recent followup 

sampling results to provide the IPP with information on whether establishment pathogen results are improving. These 

alerts include the number of followup samples analyzed and the number of followup samples that result in a positive. 

Poultry – Campylobacter: In FY 2019, FSIS proposed and requested comments on revised performance standards 

for Campylobacter in NRTE comminuted chicken and turkey products based on an enrichment method. The enrichment step increases the ability to find Campylobacter that may be on poultry by allowing for the growth and recovery 

of injured Campylobacter cells when compared with the direct plating method. In FY 2020, after considering comments received on the proposed standards, FSIS plans to finalize these performance standards. In addition, FSIS 

will analyze the enrichment method-based Campylobacter results for young chicken and turkey carcasses and raw 

chicken parts and develop and propose revised Campylobacter performance standards for these products. To assist 

establishments in meeting the revised performance standards, FSIS will issue an industry guideline specific to reducing Campylobacter in raw poultry products.

Beef – Salmonella: In FY 2019, to decrease Salmonella contamination rates in ground beef and subsequent illnesses, FSIS prepared a Federal Register Notice proposing and requesting comments on new performance standards for 

Salmonella in raw ground beef and beef manufacturing trimmings, the primary component of raw ground beef. After 

considering comments received on the proposed standards, FSIS plans to finalize these performance standards and 

implement them. FSIS will also issue an industry guideline to assist establishments in meeting these performance 

standards.

Pork – Salmonella: In FY 2019, FSIS continued its exploratory sampling and testing of raw intact and non-intact pork 

cuts and raw comminuted pork product for Salmonella. The Agency analyzed the results to inform policy development 

for the control of Salmonella in raw pork products. In FY 2020, FSIS will prepare a manuscript to report on the results 

of this data analysis. FSIS also plans to propose performance standards for Salmonella in raw intact and non-intact 

pork cuts and raw comminuted pork products. 

7 FSIS Notice 7-19

8 For each poultry product with a Salmonella performance standard, this measure is calculated by dividing the number of establishments that passed the most recent 

moving window (Category 1 and Category 2) by the total number of establishments that were categorized for that performance standard. (A moving window is an 

approach to sampling in which FSIS evaluates all samples collected over a set number of weeks from a single establishment to assess process control. As each new 

week is completed, the oldest week is dropped off the calculation. The “moving window” approach provides FSIS with more flexibility for scheduling sample collection at 

different establishments.)

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 9

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of establishments that meet pathogen reduction performance standards.8 (1.1.3.1) 87%
10 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

Outcome 1.1: Prevent Contamination 

Result 4: Promote Food Defense Practices

This result focuses on how FSIS will remain vigilant and sustain progress made in food defense and preparedness to 

respond to acts of intentional contamination of food. The evolving threat landscape and emerging risks demand that 

the Agency maintain and enhance its capability and capacity to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from all hazards. The Agency will continue to promote agency preparedness, and that of the regulated industry, 

to drive enhanced capabilities and capacities to respond to and recover from threats and hazards of greatest risk.

In FY 2019, FSIS continued implementing a multi-year strategy for food defense. This included conducting food 

defense tasks at establishments and analyzing task data to inform program activities; continued integration of food 

defense into FSIS policies; implementation of its Outreach and Communication Plan to better direct food defense outreach activities; and collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies and organizations.

In addition, the Agency initiated its second annual application of the Vulnerability Assessment Framework, a riskbased approach FSIS is using to determine if new or updated vulnerability assessments are needed based on new 

and emerging threats. Additionally, preparedness activities included the launch of version 2.0 of the FSIS Incident 

Management System, providing the Agency a more stable system to efficiently manage and track incidents in real-time, exercises to validate response and recovery plans, and continued implementation of food defense-targeted 

threat surveillance at National Special Security Events (NSSE). 

In FY 2020, FSIS will continue its work in aligning and integrating key food defense concepts and activities into dayto-day inspection operations and will continue to update critical food defense policies and resources, as needed. By 

conducting food defense surveillance activities in regulated establishments and in-commerce facilities, the Agency will 

continue to identify food defense practices in use. FSIS will also continue to conduct vulnerability assessment activities to identify critical risks and the best practices to reduce them.

Also, in FY 2020, FSIS will continue to seek out and enhance collaborative opportunities with stakeholders. These 

activities will include providing information to public and private partners to emphasize the importance of food defense 

and highlight tools and resources available on the FSIS website, providing support to foreign governments to protect 

the supply of food imported into the United States, and publishing food defense articles in multiple sources.
GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

FSIS will also continue to improve capabilities to respond to and recover from any hazards through preparedness activities, including conducting analyses of food incidents to prioritize Agency efforts and conducting exercises to validate 

response and recovery plans and to minimize negative public health and economic impacts. Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) laboratories will continue to perform surveillance testing of food at the cooperative agreement 

laboratories by analyzing samples from retail for various chemical, biological, and radiological agents that the FSIS 

Field Services do not have the in-house capability to run. This testing program enables the FERN Cooperative Agreement labs to strengthen their readiness capabilities in response to a food defense event in support of FSIS regulated 

commodities. 

In addition, the Agency will continue to promote preparedness by engaging in National Special Security Events 

(e.g., Presidential Inauguration) and Special Security Events (e.g., Super Bowl) as appropriate in FY 2020, while 

implementing updated vulnerability assessments and a normalized food defense sampling strategy to drive the enhanced capabilities and capacities for all food defense practices.

9

 In FY 2017, FSIS revised the food defense task for IPP, which resulted in the establishment of a baseline of the percent of FSIS-regulated establishments that voluntarily maintain food defense practices as the basis of this measure.

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 11

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of establishments that maintain food defense practices.9 (1.1.4.1) 85%

ANNUAL PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

# of surveillance testing samples at Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) Cooperative Agreement Laboratories 

performed. 5,500
12 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

Outcome 1.2: Limit Illness From Regulated Products

Result 5: Improve Food Safety at In-Commerce Facilities

Proper handling of meat, including Siluriformes fish, poultry, shell egg, and egg products at in-commerce facilities—

warehouses, distributors, and retailers—is critical to preventing foodborne illnesses. Product volumes at some of these 

facilities can be very high, and the way products are handled or even further processed at some of these facilities can 

introduce additional food safety hazards. FSIS focuses its surveillance, investigations, enforcement, and other in-commerce activities on those facilities that present the greatest risk to consumers. 

FSIS conducts followup surveillance activities at in-commerce facilities where conditions have been observed that 

could lead to unsafe products. FSIS also promotes safe food handling practices at in-commerce facilities through 

outreach and education. FSIS collaborates with State and local authorities to ensure, to the extent possible, that all 

types of in-commerce facilities are routinely monitored and that educational and outreach materials are disseminated 

as widely as possible.

In FY 2019, FSIS continued to distribute several thousand Retail Deli Best Practices brochures to retailers across the 

country while performing surveillance activities to verify food safety at in-commerce facilities. In FY 2020, FSIS will 

continue to conduct the majority of its surveillance activities at the in-commerce business types that pose the highest 

risk to public health. The Agency will also continue to perform followup surveillance activities at in-commerce facilities 

where initial surveillance reveals food safety violations and take product control actions when appropriate and necessary to remove unsafe food from commerce. 

Additionally, in FY 2020, FSIS will modify its current approach for targeting surveillance by adding compliance history 

as a risk factor for scheduling surveillance reviews. Compliance history will be identified by risk status (high, medium, 

low) for every facility, regardless of tier. In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to verify that retail locations that operate delis 

are safely handling ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry products intended for sale to consumers to mitigate contamination with Listeria monocytogenes (Lm). Lm is associated with a significantly higher fatality rate than most other 

foodborne pathogens. It can survive and grow at cool temperatures, including during refrigeration, and can persist in 

retail deli environments. 

The Agency will continue to focus on educating retailers and tracking progress on the adoption of safe-handling practices at retail delis. FSIS will also continue to collect and analyze surveillance data to assess the effectiveness of its 

efforts at retail. As part of these efforts, the Agency will assess the percentage of retailers following each of the eight 

most important recommendations individually and develop outreach materials targeted on the recommendations that 

retailers are less likely to follow. 

Additionally, FSIS plans to work with FDA and other public health partners, including State and local health departments, to develop specific outreach materials for retailers, based on findings from the focus group sessions described 

in Result 16. FSIS also plans to find new ways to share its retail Lm surveillance data, including posting this information on the recently developed FSIS Retail Guidance web page. 
GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

In addition to the control of Lm at retail delis, FSIS continues to identify other food safety priorities at retail/in-commerce facilities and perform surveillance activities focused on these priorities. Specifically, FSIS is verifying that grinding log records are maintained at retail stores that grind raw beef products. Maintenance of these records is critical to 

FSIS’ ability to accurately trace the source of foodborne illness outbreaks involving ground beef products and identify 

source materials that may need to be recalled. Despite the retail grinding log rule and FSIS issuing Notice of Warning 

letters to facilities that are not in compliance with grinding log recordkeeping requirements, inadequate grinding logs 

and poor grinding practices have continued to hinder traceback in ground beef-related outbreak investigations. 

In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to monitor compliance with the grinding log recordkeeping requirements, educate 

retailers on the rule, conduct targeted outreach to retail industry organizations that can share information with their 

members, and issue Notice of Warning letters when violations of the rule are identified. In addition, in FY 2020, FSIS 

will continue working with the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO), through a relationship initiated in FY 

2019, to develop and disseminate guidance that includes best practices to assist retailers that grind raw beef products 

in complying with relevant regulations and mitigate hazards. This will include development of an infographic and a presentation with best practices that will be posted on the FSIS Retail Guidance web page and referenced on the AFDO 

website.

FSIS serves in an advisory role on the Executive Board for the Conference for Food Protection (CFP) and, in this 

capacity, recommends changes to the FDA Food Code that are relevant to the safety of meat and poultry products 

in-commerce. In FY 2019, FSIS continued to collaborate through the CFP to develop guidelines for roaster pigs. 

Additionally, in response to numerous outbreaks of illness linked to chicken liver prepared at restaurants, FSIS created 

resources in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help prevent chicken liver-associated illness. These materials were posted on the FSIS Retail Guidance web page and include findings from 

a published outbreak review, an intervention guideline for FSIS-regulated establishments and the foodservice industry, 

and an infographic for chefs, cooks, and caterers. 

In FY 2020, FSIS will continue working with FDA during monthly meetings to harmonize language between FSIS 

regulations and the FDA Food Code. The Agency will also work with FDA and CDC to develop a strategy to include its 

retail deli surveillance data in the Healthy People 2030 goals. 

10 This measure tracks the percentage of retailers that are following all eight of the most important retail deli Lm guidelines. These 8 are among the 33 recommendations in the measure that follows (1.2.1.1 b). The large difference between the targets is in part because all eight need to be followed to be counted in the percentage. 

Measure 1.2.1.1b with a 92% target reflects an aggregate of recommendations being followed that are weighted equally. The recommendations cover product handling, 

cleaning and sanitizing, facility and equipment controls, and employee practices.

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 13

ANNUAL PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of surveillance activities that are at the highest risk firms. ≥ 70%

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of retailers following all eight of the most important FSIS Deli Lm guidelines.10 (1.2.1.1a)

% of retailers following the majority of the 33 recommendations in the FSIS Deli Lm guidelines. (1.2.1.1b) 

63%

92%
14 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

Outcome 1.2: Limit Illness From Regulated Products

Result 6: Improve Response to Foodborne Illness Outbreaks and Adulteration 

 Events

FSIS collaborates with public health partners, including CDC, FDA, and State and local departments of health and 

agriculture, to respond to foodborne illness outbreaks and food adulteration events. Timely information exchange 

between partners facilitates rapid response. Evidence from consumer complaints, foodborne illness reporting systems, 

case-patient interviews, product traceback/traceforward, in-plant investigations and assessments, and food testing is 

essential for identifying and controlling foodborne illnesses and food adulteration events, including foreign material 

and undeclared allergens.

FSIS encourages public health partners to promptly notify FSIS of foodborne outbreaks and conducts outreach to 

enhance collaborative outbreak response. To inform and prioritize outreach efforts, FSIS has conducted annual surveys of public health partners since FY 2017. FSIS has also worked with partners to identify ways to prevent future 

illnesses and improve response and has posted lessons learned from outbreak investigations in reports on its website. 

Based on the survey results and lessons learned, FSIS has taken several actions, including establishing a process 

for sharing information with partners to assist with outbreak vehicle identification and publishing recommendations for 

how to include FSIS in State outbreak response procedures.

In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to improve response to foodborne outbreaks and food adulteration events. Specifically, FSIS will continue conducting surveys of State partners to identify ways to strengthen communication and 

collaboration during outbreak response. FSIS will also routinely conduct outbreak after-action reviews to identify 

and communicate lessons learned from outbreak investigations to help prevent foodborne illnesses and enhance 

outbreak response. FSIS also plans to review and update, as appropriate, its policy for assessing and using results 

from non-FSIS laboratories to support FSIS actions during foodborne illness response. Furthermore, to expedite the 

assessment process, FSIS plans to enhance instructions for State partners that submit analytical packages to FSIS. 

In addition, FSIS will continue to utilize advances in technology, such as whole genome sequencing (WGS) analysis, 

to better understand and respond to foodborne pathogens.

Also in FY 2020, FSIS will review foreign material and undeclared allergen recalls over the past several years and, 

based on the findings, retool existing strategies to decrease the frequency of these types of food adulteration events. 

These comprehensive reviews will include assessing the effectiveness of actions taken to address foreign materials 

and undeclared allergens. It is envisioned that multi-pronged strategies will be needed—strategies that involve education, outreach, and additional guidance for industry, as well as updated training and instructions for IPP. 

11 This measure is based on responses to the annual FSIS foodborne illness outbreak investigation survey of public health partners (see Federal Register Notice – August 14, 2018) and outbreak-related information received from state agencies.

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of State partners that indicate that they routinely notify FSIS of illness outbreaks that may be associated 

with FSIS-regulated products.11 (1.2.2.1)

80%
GOAL 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health

Outcome 1.2: Limit Illness From Regulated Products

Result 7: Increase Public Awareness of Recalls, Foodborne Illness, and Safe 

 Food-Handling Practices

FSIS continues to increase public awareness of recalls, foodborne illness policies, and safe food-handling practices through a broad range of communications channels with the goal of reducing the rates of foodborne illness. The 

Agency will continue strategic outreach through traditional media, social media, events, partnerships, educational materials, mobile applications, seasonal outreach, conference participation, and other forms of public engagement. This 

outreach communicates the importance of safe food handling, informs the public of current recalls and public health 

alerts, and educates them about important policy modernization efforts that affect their food.

In FY 2019, the Agency completed its second year of a multi-year social science research effort using observational 

studies and focus groups to examine food-handling practices of consumers in the kitchen. The insights gained from 

this research allow FSIS to better understand how consumers handle and prepare food, and when the most unsafe 

food-handling practices occur during meal preparation. With this newfound information, FSIS began communicating to 

the public about the riskiest food safety practices and will continue to do so in FY 2020.

In FY 2020, FSIS will expand its proactive outreach efforts to the press, will continue to work with partners to serve as 

message multipliers to extend and expand the reach of food safety messaging, and will engage with the public and 

key stakeholders through traditional and new media. By refining outreach materials based on insights gained from recent research, FSIS will reach more consumers with actionable and tested safety messages to increase public awareness of recalls, foodborne illness and safe food-handling practices, and promote positive behavior change.

Additional key activities for FY 2020 include researching possible updates to the Safe Handling Instructions label 

required on all raw and RTE FSIS-regulated products. 

FSIS will promote the Agency as a science-based, 21st century public health institution by presenting its outreach 

strategies with partners and other stakeholders. Other key activities will include executing policy-related communications strategies that educate the public about important policy modernization efforts that affect their food; training a 

limited number of field staff to serve as spokespeople during local interviews and food demonstrations; and providing 

better customer service via user experience improvements to the Agency’s website.

12This indexed measure includes weighted metrics primarily of impressions, including direct connections, website traffic, application downloads, event participation, 

physical and digital educational material distribution, social media engagement, media impressions, and emails distributed. The percentage represents more than 50 

million weighted impressions as its target for FY 2020

13 This measure is a subset of the index measure used in 1.2.3.1. This measure tracks the component of our overall public outreach that applies the lessons learned 

from consumer research to improve our messages (50 percent of the 50 million increase in measure 1.2.3.1.).

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 15

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% increase in public awareness of safe food-handling guidance and recalls through communications channels.12 (1.2.3.1)

% of total yearly outreach target from all communications channels is based on safe food-handling behaviors research.13

(1.2.3.2)

5%

50%
16 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

GOAL 2: Modernizing Inspection Systems, Policies, and the Use of Scientific Approaches

Outcome 2.1: Improve Food Safety and Humane Handling Practices Through 

Adoption of Innovative Approaches

Result 8: Modernize Scientific Techniques and Inspection Procedures 

This result focuses on identifying, developing, and implementing innovative tools, techniques, methodologies, and 

approaches to support the Agency’s continued modernization efforts. More specifically, advanced tools for WGS analysis will be used to inform risk management and regulatory decisions; new pathogen screening platforms have been 

deployed in FSIS laboratories and will be used to gain efficiencies by, in part, reducing false negatives and positives; 

innovative inspection tools will be explored through pilot projects; and new and innovative methodologies will be implemented to modernize inspection systems and improve hazard detection and response. This result includes a focus on 

enhancing PHIS functionalities and data system interoperability. In addition to PHIS, FSIS will also modernize critical 

laboratory information technology (IT) infrastructure to support all applications including WGS and the new pathogen 

screening platforms. 

One goal of modernization is to provide our inspectors, EIAOs, and regulatory partners with the information they need 

to support timely decision making, so this is another focus area for this result. Additionally, key activities in this result 

aim to reduce consumer risks by systematically controlling and preventing hazards associated with FSIS-regulated 

products using modernized inspection procedures and practices, new technology, and science-based regulatory requirements.

Whole Genome Sequencing: In FY 2019, the Agency used WGS to characterize pathogen isolates from regulatory 

samples, including Salmonella, Campylobacter, Lm, and STEC. In addition, FSIS used WGS to characterize all Salmonella, Campylobacter, and select E. coli and Enterococcus isolated from the NARMS cecal samples and Salmonella isolated from USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) school lunch samples. As of April 2019, FSIS discontinued all routine pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analyses and now uses WGS.

FSIS also plans to perform cluster analysis to identify outbreaks for pathogens, such as Salmonella. In addition, the 

Agency has drafted a set of “frequently asked questions” to help FSIS communicate this policy and other information 

about WGS within and outside the Agency. 

For Salmonella and Campylobacter, FSIS will continue to broaden its application of WGS in its regulatory framework 

to further inform inspection. Specifically, FSIS will explore the use of WGS analyses, in combination with other existing 

techniques, to develop a risk-ranking process to determine when subtyping results for isolates from an establishment 

should trigger a PHRE or be used to further distinguish Category 3 establishments. In addition, WGS will be used to 

identify STEC serotypes and Shiga toxin (stx) and intimin (eae) subtypes associated with historical and current food 

isolates and investigate trends by time, product type, and establishment to enhance FSIS’ knowledge of STEC characteristics and to inform policy.
FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 17

GOAL 2: Modernizing Inspection Systems, Policies, and the Use of Scientific Approaches

In FY 2019, FSIS began including serotype, PFGE, WGS, and AMR information in its establishment-specific datasets 

that are posted on the FSIS website. FSIS intends to begin sharing this information more quickly with industry. FSIS 

also began sharing Lm WGS information using CDC nomenclature for the samples it analyzes in quarterly letters 

provided to all official establishments. In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to communicate WGS information to inspectors, 

establishments, and industry and consumer stakeholder groups. In addition, FSIS will continue to work with FDA and 

other partners to develop a standardized approach for sharing WGS data and analyses for dual jurisdiction establishments; this will be addressed through an update to an existing FSIS-FDA Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for 

Dual Jurisdiction Establishments. 

Laboratory Screening for Pathogens and Chemicals in FSIS Samples: For over a decade, FSIS had used a specific 

platform and methodology for screening microbiological samples that are enriched. While this approach had been reliable and robust, there have been several developments in the field of pathogen detection and screening. In FY 2019, 

FSIS incorporated three new platforms for Salmonella, Lm, and STEC into its routine screening to complement current 

technology and updated the relevant methodologies in the Microbial Laboratory Guidebook to reflect the use of these 

new platforms. 

In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to explore technologies with improved efficiencies over direct plating and traditional 

most probable number (MPN) methods to quantify bacteria including Salmonella, Campylobacter, Lm, STEC, and 

indicator organisms. FSIS will work with the FDA to expand the products eligible for NARMS testing to gather additional scientific information about AMR. FSIS will also explore the potential use of diagnostic metagenomics technologies 

to identify multiple strains of pathogens and indicator organisms at the same time during the initial sample screening 

stage. 

In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to explore new innovative laboratory equipment and methods for the detection of chemical contaminants and drug residues. Specifically, FSIS will complete a method extension validation for allergen detection in FSIS regulated products and evaluate this method for use in FSIS inspection verification activities. In FY 2020, 

FSIS will also complete validation and implement enhancements to its multi-residue method, which will increase the 

number of residues analyzed and confirmed, include quantification capability, and will extend the applicability of the 

method to additional product matrices, including egg products. FSIS will implement a new pesticide method designed 

to reduce extraction time, increase the detection capabilities for additional EPA-priority compounds, and decrease 

hazardous chemical usage in FSIS laboratories. Finally, FSIS plans to expand the voluntary Accredited Laboratory 

Program (ALP) to include pathogen testing.

Potential Inspector/EIAO Tools: In FY 2018, FSIS reviewed the laboratory evaluation of three portable water activity meters. In FY 2019, based on that evaluation, FSIS selected one of the meters to conduct in-field testing at RTE 

establishments producing cooked country-cured ham products; these ham products were previously associated with 

an outbreak. The protocol for the in-field testing was developed in FY 2019. In FY 2020, FSIS will complete the in-field 

testing of the selected water activity meter and determine whether the portable device can or cannot be used in-field 

to obtain an accurate water activity reading to assess the safety of meat products. 
18 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

GOAL 2: Modernizing Inspection Systems, Policies, and the Use of Scientific Approaches

In FY 2020, the Agency will continue to explore real-time microbiological and allergen testing tools for field application. Tools of interest would be those that detect allergens in product or on equipment, and those that assist with the 

detection of fecal contamination. In addition, FSIS will continue to explore innovative tools and technology to inform 

environmental sample site selection based on indications of sanitary conditions. FSIS is always looking for alternatives 

for evaluating the effectiveness of process control, and for identifying conditions that may lead to cross-contamination 

of product during slaughter and processing. In FY 2020, FSIS will design a protocol to identify and assess alternatives 

to the destructive N60 sample collection methods and explore and identify new technologies to modernize sample 

transport to laboratories.

In FY 2019, FSIS completed the development of the Adulterated Products Monitoring System (APMS) functionality, 

which will replace the legacy System Tracking E. coli O157:H7 Positive Suppliers, Recall Management, and Industry 

Notification of Adulteration. In FY 2020, FSIS intends to launch the APMS functionality into PHIS.

Inspection Procedures and Approaches: In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to monitor the percentage of establishments 

whose Public Health Regulation (PHR) noncompliance rate decreases below the early warning cut point 120 days 

after receiving an Early Warning Alert (EWA). FSIS continues to develop reports and interactive data-driven graphics 

to assess individual establishment performance over time. These tools will assist the Agency in at least two ways: (1) 

to identify establishments that need further assistance or where regulatory action may be warranted and (2) to inform 

policy decisions when addressing specific food safety concerns.

Modernized Inspection Systems and Processes: FSIS will continue to modernize inspection procedures and develop 

new approaches to assess the industry’s control of hazards. Specifically, FSIS will continue to implement the New 

Poultry Inspection System (NPIS) in poultry slaughter establishments that opt in and are ready to adopt the new 

system. This modernized slaughter inspection system is designed to facilitate pathogen reduction in poultry products 

by providing for more efficient and effective carcass-by-carcass inspection. This modernized inspection system allows 

some of the Agency’s online inspection resources in slaughter establishments to be used to perform additional offline 

inspection activities that are more effective in ensuring food safety. 
FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 19

GOAL 2: Modernizing Inspection Systems, Policies, and the Use of Scientific Approaches

In FY 2019, FSIS continued its efforts to modernize additional inspection systems by finalizing and implementing the 

rule titled Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection and will continue these efforts in FY 2020 by finalizing the 

amendments to the Egg Products Inspection regulations. The Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection final rule 

creates a new optional inspection system for market hog slaughter establishments - New Swine Slaughter Inspection 

System (NSIS) - that will provide public health protection at least equivalent to the existing traditional inspection system for swine. In addition, the final rule requires all swine slaughter establishments to develop written sampling plans 

tailored to their specific operations, collect carcass samples at a specific frequency and at two specific locations, and 

test for an indicator organism of their choice to assure process control throughout the entire slaughter and dressing 

operations. 

The proposed amendments to the Egg Products Inspection regulations require official plants that process egg products to develop HACCP systems (including the hazard analysis, HACCP plan, Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures, and prerequisite programs) and to meet other sanitation requirements consistent with the meat and poultry 

regulations. Under a HACCP system, egg products plants will be able to tailor a food safety system that best fits their 

facility and equipment. Furthermore, by removing prescriptive regulations, egg products plants will have the flexibility 

and the incentive to innovate new means to achieving enhanced food safety. FSIS will issue industry guidelines specific to each of these final rules intended to assist small and very small establishments and plants in complying with the 

new requirements. 

In FY 2019, FSIS defined and applied criteria for and approved additional line speed waivers for poultry establishments and began accepting waivers in preparation for modernizing beef slaughter inspection. In FY 2020, FSIS will 

assess data from poultry line speed waivers to determine if rulemaking is appropriate. In addition, FSIS will develop 

criteria for waiver submissions for swine and beef slaughter inspection and announce the criteria in the Federal Register. 
20 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

GOAL 2: Modernizing Inspection Systems, Policies, and the Use of Scientific Approaches

In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to modernize its import-export systems. More specifically, FSIS will continue to expand 

its PHIS export module to include other countries and additional products. The PHIS export module includes the electronic export application and certification systems and eliminates the need for inspectors to fill out these forms manually. FSIS will develop a proof of concept for blockchain management as a potential mechanism for addressing export 

certification challenges and identifying greater efficiencies in the export certification process. FSIS will also modernize 

its process for supporting and overseeing foreign audits of the U.S. meat, poultry, and egg products inspection systems. In FY 2019, FSIS developed an Import Library, which provides a publicly available list of foreign establishments 

and their eligibility status to export products to the United States. In FY 2020, FSIS will expand the Import Library to 

include eligible species and process categories. 

In FY 2020, FSIS will also continue to enhance and modernize its labeling evaluation and processing system. This will 

include expanding the categories of labels that can be generically approved through rulemaking, deploying innovative 

approaches to improve the label evaluation process, and making improvements to the Label Submission and Approval 

System (LSAS) itself. To improve the label evaluation process, FSIS will continue to provide label tips in the Constituent Update and conduct outreach through webinars and presentations on new labeling policies. Improvements to the 

LSAS will be completed through bug fixes and enhancements to the system. These improvements will, in part, allow 

establishments to receive feedback on their label applications submitted for approval, thus enabling timelier label 

approvals. 

14 This measure is calculated as the percent of establishments receiving a PHR EWA whose PHR noncompliance rate is below the lower threshold for receiving an EWA 

120 days after receiving the alert.

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of establishments whose PHR noncompliance rate decreases below the early warning cut point 120 days after receiving 

an EWA.14 (2.1.1.2) 

74%

ANNUAL PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

Develop and disseminate at least three outreach/educational materials via the FSIS website and at four venues to enhance 

stakeholder communications related to WGS. 4

# of days in label evaluation cycle-time, through targeted outreach and LSAS enhancements. 10 DAYS

% of import and export certificate transactions that occur electronically. 
FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 21

GOAL 2: Modernizing Inspection Systems, Policies, and the Use of Scientific Approaches

Outcome 2.1: Improve Food Safety and Humane Handling Practices Through 

Adoption of Innovative Approaches

Result 9: Increase Adoption of Humane Handling Best Practices

This result focuses on livestock slaughter using humane methods, with a specific focus on restraint and/or stunning 

of livestock to improve establishment compliance with the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) and reduce the 

risk of humane handling (HH) incidents at slaughter establishments. FSIS will continue to communicate and train staff 

on these important requirements.

A new task was created and deployed in PHIS that directs Public Health Veterinarians (PHV) to perform monthly 

assessments to determine if establishments slaughtering livestock have a Robust Systematic Approach (RSA) to HH 

and whether establishments slaughtering poultry have adopted Good Commercial Practices (GCP). During FY 2019, 

FSIS assessed the results of this PHIS task and found no major change in determinations from month to month. The 

evaluation also indicated that the RSA is also checked by IPP and the District Veterinary Medical Specialist (DVMS) 

through other tasks. Based on this evaluation, the Agency plans to continue to collect data and use it to design a 

risk-based approach for HH verification visits which would, in part, allow the Agency to better focus its resources and 

efforts on higher risk establishments. 

In FY 2020, FSIS will continue implementing its education and outreach strategy on HH best practices. This strategy 

has recently been redesigned and enhanced to target small and very small establishments. The HH education and 

outreach strategy was developed to ensure more consistent application of HH best practices and compliance with 

the HH regulatory requirements in the HMSA. In addition, the strategy includes education and outreach to small and 

very small poultry establishments on GCPs. The Agency believes that focusing HH outreach on small and very small 

establishments will be more effective in supporting compliance with the HMSA. Specifically, targeted HH outreach 

visits will be conducted at small and very small establishments by the DVMS team. These visits will be performed 

according to an established outreach plan that now includes a focus on preventing multiple stun events that, in the 

past, have resulted in FSIS enforcement actions at these small and very small establishments. By targeting outreach 

in this manner, FSIS believes small and very small establishments will be able to perform effective stunning and thus 

comply with the HMSA. In addition, eligible establishments that slaughter, regardless of size, will also continue to receive verification visits conducted by the DVMS team. During these regular verification visits, DVMSs assess how an 

establishment’s systematic approach to handling animals humanely is functioning. The conduct of both verification and 

outreach visits at small and very small establishments should serve to strengthen the Agency’s overall HH program 

nationwide. A new HH measure was created to quantify the outreach visits to small and very small plants and verification visits for all eligible slaughter establishments and is presented below. 

15 Outreach visits will target small and very small plants with a focus on effective humane handling and good commercial practices.

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of all eligible slaughter establishments that DVMSs visit and perform outreach or verification activities.15 (2.1.2.2) 70%
22 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

GOAL 2: Modernizing Inspection Systems, Policies, and the Use of Scientific Approaches

Outcome 2.2: Enhance Access to Complete and Accurate Information To Inform 

Decisions

Result 10: Improve the Reliability, Access, and Timely Collection and Distribution 

of Information and Data

This result focuses on improvements that will enable FSIS employees and external stakeholders to more easily 

access and apply Agency information and data. Improvements in the content, format, and delivery of information 

facilitate more consistent implementation and better understanding of policy by both field employees and industry. 

Leveraging technology by developing and enhancing systems and tools (1) facilitates interagency coordination and 

the timely distribution of information among Agency employees and the public and (2) equips analysts with ways to 

synthesize large volumes of data and present quality analyses for informed and sound regulatory decision making and 

policy development.

In FY 2019, FSIS made several additions and enhancements to the Analytics Portal, including the implementation 

of four new dashboards and enhancements to the Residue Violator Tracking System user interface, to improve data 

accuracy, processing, and reporting. FSIS also piloted an operational search with a data visualization function in the 

Analytics Portal, which will be implemented in FY 2020.

In FY 2020, FSIS will develop an FSIS Evaluation Plan to ensure that Agency programs (sampling projects, inspection 

programs, guidance documents, outreach, etc.) have an evidence-based means to assess that program’s effectiveness at achieving its intended outcome. The FSIS Evaluation Plan will help ensure that the data the Agency plans 

to collect meets a specific purpose and will be analyzed at an appropriate frequency to support Agency rulemaking, 

policy development, and/or outreach efforts. Such analyses can serve as an indicator as to whether current policies 

are being implemented or communicated as anticipated and are working as designed. In addition, FSIS will develop a 

plan, and implement the necessary steps, to assess data quality in PHIS. This will help inform changes to PHIS and 

other data platforms. 

In FY 2020, FSIS will continue sharing key datasets and reports. In FY 2019, FSIS posted four new datasets on the 

establishment-specific microbiological sampling results for raw chicken parts, raw comminuted chicken products, 

raw comminuted turkey products, and raw poultry followup sampling. In FY 2019, FSIS also expanded the existing 

establishment-specific laboratory sampling results datasets on the web by adding serotype, PFGE, WGS, and AMR 

information. In FY 2020, FSIS will build on its library of datasets and has plans to add four more establishment-specific 

datasets. Sharing these data and quality information on an ongoing basis facilitates transparency and allows FSIS to 

better engage with its stakeholders. 

In addition, FSIS plans to develop master datasets to allow for more consistency in reporting and analyses by FSIS 

analysts. These datasets will combine information from multiple data sources and tables within FSIS to ensure that 

all analysts are using the same core data to run analyses. In addition, the Agency will continue developing a method 

to receive and analyze data from external sources. As part of this process, FSIS will consider modernizing PHIS to 

receive and incorporate third-party data from State MPI and accredited laboratories, and other non-FSIS data. 
FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 23

GOAL 2: Modernizing Inspection Systems, Policies, and the Use of Scientific Approaches

FSIS will also consider modernizing and migrating surveillance and investigation databases into PHIS within the 

Surveillance, Complaints, and Outbreaks Response Enterprise (SCORE) interface and developing an integrated 

geographic information system for SCORE modules. FSIS also expects to implement automated data quality checks 

in the PHIS data flow to verify the integrity of reported results and enhance consistency across the Agency’s data systems. FSIS will also standardize nomenclature, units of measurement, and interpretation of laboratory data and create 

a data dictionary for more efficient analyses.

In FY 2018 and FY 2019, FSIS conducted an internal evaluation of the delivery and usefulness of directives and notices that provide instructions to FSIS’ field organization, including its IPP. Specifically, the evaluation included an internal 

survey of a subset of the Agency’s field employees to gain a better understanding of how directives and notices are received in the field and whether they are understandable. In addition, those surveyed were asked how the instructions 

in directives and notices could be improved upon to make them more useful and understandable. In FY 2020, FSIS 

will implement recommendations from this evaluation including, in part: incorporating the use of short webinars and/

or videos, quick summaries, and interactive tools in directives and notices and establishing a Policy Advisory Group 

consisting of field managers to provide input early in the process when the Agency is developing new directives and 

notices. In FY 2020, FSIS also plans to continue to create interactive tools that provide establishment-specific history 

and relevant instructions from directives and notices specific to an establishment’s processes for IPP and other field 

employee use. 

In FY 2019, FSIS launched a redesigned Guidance Index web page that is more user-friendly. In FY 2020, FSIS will 

continue to publish guidelines to assist industry in complying with FSIS laws and regulations and plans to conduct an 

analysis on the impact of its guidance documents on achieving their intended purpose.

In FY 2020, FSIS will continue its efforts for more employees to gain online access to FSIS-approved systems. To 

accomplish this, access requires new and existing employees to have updated credentials (LincPass) wherever they 

are assigned. The online access to equipment will reduce the Agency’s dependency on paper-based processes by 

increasing the availability and use of electronic devices, and by improving access to FSIS training materials, data 

reports, and other information on the FSIS intranet, including financial and policy documents. 

FSIS implemented a pilot program in three locations in the first quarter of FY 2019 to test a new method for obtaining eAuthorization and LincPass for employees within their first week on the job through the e-Onboarding program. 

Existing employees who are long distances from their district office are sent to their nearest credentialing center. The 

pilot program proved to be a success. As a result, in FY 2020, FSIS will implement the adjusted method Agency-wide 

and has placed LincPass credentialing stations in each district office.

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

# of master FSIS datasets developed and available for use by FSIS analysts. (2.2.1.1) 2

% of employees that have online access to FSIS-approved systems. (2.2.1.2) 92%

# of establishment-specific or other FSIS datasets made publicly available (one new data set per quarter). (2.2.1.3) 19
24 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

GOAL 3: Achieve Operational Excellence

Outcome 3.1: Maintain a Well-Trained and Engaged Workforce

Result 11: Improve Recruitment and Retention for Mission-Critical Positions

This result primarily focuses on continuing to implement an expanded set of strategies, incentives, and initiatives 

that will advance our mission-critical hiring objectives and improve retention, including for hard-to-fill locations. It also 

focuses on recruitment initiatives for specific populations, such as veterinarians, food inspectors, veterans, and IT

professionals to support FSIS’ ability to maintain a highly qualified and diverse workforce. A large majority of FSIS’ 

workforce play a critical role in providing day-to-day oversight of food inspection operations. 

These strategies help reduce the inherent risks the Agency faces by ensuring that enough inspectors are in place to 

conduct inspection activities to prevent FSIS-regulated product contamination and ensure that animals are treated 

humanely before they are slaughtered.

In FY 2019, FSIS utilized its direct hiring authority to expedite the hiring of PHVs. In FY 2020, FSIS plans to execute 

the following initiatives:

• A pre-apprenticeship program for Food Inspectors (FI) and Consumer Safety Inspectors (CSI) to attract service

members, who desire to continue their career after the military, in the food safety arena. This program utilizes a

4-week familiarization process that trains service members while still on active duty. The groundwork has been

laid so that the pre-apprenticeship program will transition participants to the FSIS formal Apprenticeship Program.

• An original, 12-month apprenticeship (registered with the Department of Labor) for FI and CSI occupations to create a pipeline of candidates with previous food safety military experience to fill vacancies in hard-to-fill locations.

• A retention program that enables the Agency to employ incentives, focused on PHVs, which would require continued Federal service agreements to improve long-term career opportunities. Additionally, the Agency will further

develop and implement the multipronged PHV incentive program to improve PHV staffing.

• Enhancements to the Human Resource General Support System to enable better position tracking, improved hiring metrics calculations, and report development. These metrics and reports will identify and address bottlenecks

to improve the hiring process.

• Monthly Supervisory Veterinary Medical Officer announcements identifying current vacancy locations to increase

applicant acceptance of job offers.

• Outreach to colleges and universities with veterinary, food, and animal science programs to educate students

about the FSIS mission as well as to promote FSIS as an employer of choice.

• Local FI hiring events, with district staff and human resources (HR) personnel onsite to provide support to increase

applicants’ completion of the application and pre-employment processes.

• The Office of Management and the Office of Field Operations will partner with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to update the FI assessment tool to more effectively screen applicants by avoiding unrelated questions and including some experience and education questions.
• The Veterinary Medical Officer Outreach Coordinator position to promote the adoption of innovative measures to

increase the attractiveness of the Agency as an employer and promote the Agency and its food safety mission to

professional groups and academic institutions.

• Continuance of the Student Loan Repayment program for PHVs.

GOAL 3: Achieve Operational Excellence

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 25

ANNUAL PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of PHVs remaining with FSIS for >2 yrs. (including Malak Scholars). 85%

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of mission-critical front-line positions that are filled. (3.1.1.1) 

% of employees that remain at FSIS for 2 years or more. (3.1.1.2) 

96.3%

85%
26 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

GOAL 3: Achieve Operational Excellence

Outcome 3.1: Maintain a Well-Trained and Engaged Workforce

Result 12: Enhance Training and Development Opportunities Across Competency 

Areas

This result focuses on delivering a range of training and development activities to FSIS employees. FSIS continues 

to enhance and expand its training offerings by using new training delivery tools and more frequent course offerings. 

The FSIS workforce is critical to the day-to-day oversight of inspection operations, and these training strategies help 

reduce the inherent risks the Agency faces in ensuring that its inspection workforce is sufficiently trained to identify 

and prevent FSIS-regulated product contamination and to ensure animals are humanely treated before slaughter. 

In FY 2020, FSIS will continue working on transforming training programs and offerings. To date, FSIS has delivered 

training and established competency models in certain mission-critical occupations. FSIS plans to continue to modernize its training efforts in FY 2020 to meet all new policy and HR initiatives and will support a range of training and 

development activities, depending on availability of resources, including: 

• Continuing to redesign PHV training modules for the updated PHV training and starting the redesign of Inspection

Methods classroom training.

• Employing alternative delivery methods and training approaches that are suitable to the content and audiences

FSIS reaches, such as a USDA-redesigned AgLearn and an interactive learning platform.

• Marketing and promoting increased OFO inspection personnel use of online technical materials available through

Help resources, InsideFSIS, and AgLearn.

• Supporting external training offerings to both maintain competencies and fill gaps in key areas.

• Providing access to existing searchable visuals online such as photographs, animations, videos, point-of-view

reference materials, and 360-degree videos.

Leadership training will focus on offerings/opportunities to improve leadership and management competencies in the 

areas of accountability, vision, problem-solving, and leveraging diversity. FSIS will fill core classes to at least 90 

percent capacity. Inspection and technical training will focus on competencies in staff through updated offerings. 

To measure progress, FSIS will assess knowledge gained from these efforts to analyze training results to better interpret and measure training outcomes. FSIS will also continue to analyze and use Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey 

(FEVS) results and employee responses to training and FSIS’ annual surveys to advance content development, training delivery, and interpret and measure outcomes. 

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% increase in knowledge gained in key occupations within 180 days. (3.1.2.1) 83.9%
GOAL 3: Achieve Operational Excellence

Outcome 3.1: Maintain a Well-Trained and Engaged Workforce

Result 13: Ensure Equal Opportunity and a Diverse and Inclusive Environment

FSIS remains committed to ensuring equal opportunity for all employees and fostering a workforce that is diverse, 

inclusive, and engaged. This result seeks to build on these values by ensuring compliance with Civil Rights and Equal 

Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws and regulations and by promoting and enhancing employee engagement initiatives and activities. Required activities that the Agency will continue to implement which support this goal include: distributing civil rights policies, conducting compliance reviews, processing EEO complaints, managing Special Emphasis 

Programs, marketing the availability of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) program, and reporting affirmative 

action plans and complaint activity data to the USDA and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

During FY 2019, FSIS continued numerous efforts geared toward enhancing its EEO and Civil Rights (EEO/CR) programs. Specifically, the Agency issued previously developed EEO/CR training to the workforce. As part of this effort, 

the Agency continued to utilize the previously implemented standardized knowledge check questions into its training 

modules to assess employees’ EEO and Civil Rights competency and the effectiveness of its training program. During 

FY 2018, the results from the knowledge check questions demonstrated that 78 percent of the employees who completed the training gleaned additional knowledge from the training. The Agency will again tabulate the percentage of 

employees who gleaned additional knowledge from the FY 2019 training.

To continue its proactive efforts, the Agency marketed and promoted its ADR program through the development and 

delivery of numerous Conflict Management training modules. These modules were delivered to both Agency leadership as well as during Front Line Supervisors’ annual meetings. Additionally, the Agency continued to market its other 

ADR services through various presentations and webinars. The Agency continued to enhance its Compliance Assistance, Review, and Evaluation (CARE) process. Specifically, the employee climate survey questions were revised 

and an overall template report that outlined specific areas of focus for each review was developed. The Agency also 

began comparing prior reviews to current reviews to highlight areas where significant changes may have occurred and 

observed trends that may cause barriers within the Agency.

Since many of the initiatives previously referenced are ongoing priorities, they will continue to be addressed in FY 

2020. This ongoing effort provides the Agency the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of several changes made 

and new initiatives implemented, including EEO/CR training and CARE reviews. Additionally, in response to several 

statutory and regulatory changes imposed by EEOC, the Agency will address the deficiencies noted in its affirmative 

action plan which include conducting a comprehensive barrier analysis aimed at identifying barriers to employment 

within the various protected groups-notably, persons with disabilities.

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 27

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of Alternative Dispute Resolution acceptance rate for formal and informal EEO complaints. (3.1.3.1)

% of employees who complete mandatory EEO/CR training that satisfy competency requirements. (3.1.3.2)

48%

76%

% increase in FSIS’ FEVS employee engagement survey index to 69 percent. (3.1.3.3) 69.4%
28 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

GOAL 3: Achieve Operational Excellence

Outcome 3.2: Improve Processes and Services

Result 14: Enhance Efficiency and Effectiveness of Key Business Processes and 

Systems

This result focuses on ensuring that FSIS’ business practices and systems are efficient and effective, and increasingly 

enabling FSIS personnel - in particular, its frontline workforce - to dedicate more of their time toward advancing the 

Agency’s core food safety mission. FSIS continues to align and enhance organizational business and management 

processes, workflows, and technology to support sound operations, with a particular focus on HR, IT, and Procurement. These initiatives will help reduce inherent risks by improving data integrity, reliability, and accessibility, and by 

equipping FSIS personnel with information required to make sound decisions.

FSIS will build upon progress achieved in FY 2019 to enhance our strategic human capital planning capabilities, 

procurement, IT, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) processes, external audit and internal evaluation processes, and 

further expand our complete budget and financial management system enhancements in FY 2020. Illustrative examples include: 

Human Resources: In FY 2020, FSIS will review hiring processes initiated after the acceptance of the Tentative Offer 

Letter to identify and improve the consistency and effectiveness of HR processes which currently create a backlog 

or require significant time to complete. The Agency will also focus on other parts of the hiring process that represent 

bottlenecks and remove impediments such as the food inspection assessment tool. Additionally, FSIS will engage with 

OPM to accelerate the processing of high-priority mission support recruitment actions and free up internal HR staffing 

personnel to focus on front-line hiring.

Procurement: To better project the upcoming FY 2020 acquisition workload, FSIS will hold meetings with each 

program area to develop an acquisition plan in the first quarter. Within the context of the existing fiscal environment, 

pre-planning will aid procurement in identifying when to best execute the Agency’s procurement actions. FSIS has 

designated a Mission Area Senior Program Manager (MASPM) to help ensure the success of all acquisition programs 

within FSIS. The MASPM will communicate with programs with procurement requests to identify and plan FY 2020 

acquisitions.

Evaluation: The Evaluation Workgroup (EWG) was established in FY 2017 as a formal mechanism to propose, identify, prioritize, coordinate, integrate, and collaborate on FSIS evaluations. The EWG’s evidence-based evaluations directly support FSIS enterprise governance and Agency decision making by providing information about how activities, 

policies, processes, or changes may be optimized to achieve desired results. In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to support 

programs by conducting evaluations identified in the FSIS Evaluation Plan to assess a program’s effectiveness at 

achieving its intended outcome. In addition, FSIS will conduct mission critical evaluations, surveys, and other analyses 

identified by the EWG and programs, in high-priority areas to help enhance program and/or process efficacy.
FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 29

GOAL 3: Achieve Operational Excellence

Information Technology: FSIS will continue to evaluate and refine its processes and IT Roadmap, including increasing the use of cloud and mobile technologies as possible, to ensure its business technology and enterprise architecture will continue to meet its evolving mission and increasingly mobile workforce. FSIS will redesign and streamline 

processes and select innovative technologies to help support workforce productivity and, in FY 2020, respond to 

updated departmental and Federal requirements. FSIS will continue to use the IT Procurement Process Toolkit to improve the customer experience with IT procurements. The Agency will also conduct additional IT road mapping activities, such as a multi-year transition plan to deploy additional cloud and mobile technologies and continue its transition 

to more agile methodologies.

Freedom of Information Act: FOIA efforts this year will focus on improving FSIS staff awareness of their roles and 

responsibilities under the FOIA. The FOIA staff will continue to conduct several training sessions with FSIS staff to 

highlight all employees’ responsibilities under the FOIA, ensuring knowledge of FSIS’ processes and requirements, 

and improving the quality and timeliness of FOIA responses. FSIS management will implement performance standards related to FOIA for all supervisors to ensure accountability and compliance with the FOIA requirements. The 

FOIA staff will continue to brief stakeholders on the FSIS FOIA process and evaluate stakeholder feedback to further 

enhance the customer experience. 

Audits: In FY 2019, FSIS began to meet quarterly with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to discuss the 

status of current GAO audits as well as to gather direct feedback on FSIS’ proposed corrective actions in response to 

audit recommendations. This effort was to ensure that actions taken are sufficient for addressing audit findings and 

that audit recommendations are closed in a timely manner. In FY 2020, FSIS will continue these quarterly meetings 

with GAO and will also continue to identify other approaches that will streamline the audit liaison process to help improve implementation of corrective actions in response to audit recommendations. Additionally, FSIS continues to work 

closely with the USDA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) to ensure the timely implementation and closure 

of the Office of the Inspector General’s recommendations.

Financial Systems: In FY 2019, FSIS continued to support the modernization of its export certificate process and 

began billing industry for PHIS export services. In addition, the Agency made efforts to modernize and automate financial systems used to allocate and track budgets for the State MPI Programs through the development of an internal 

financial management database and by improving the interface between USDA’s Financial Management Modernization Initiative and the Health and Human Services systems. In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to work toward building or 

modifying interfaces and automating business processes, increasing analysis capabilities, and gaining efficiencies in 

transforming complex financial data into practical information. This includes completing FSIS-specific projects (i.e., 

Financial Reporting Improvements and Optimization or FRIO) related to budgeting and financial management. 
30 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

GOAL 3: Achieve Operational Excellence

Investment Reviews: The Enterprise Investment Board will continue to conduct periodic reviews of Agency enterprise 

governance-approved projects. This coordinated approach will promote good fiscal stewardship and accountability for 

Agency funds by monitoring project progress to ensure that the project milestones are being met and, if they are not, 

that corrective actions are being taken to bring the projects back into alignment, as appropriate.

16 FSIS uses an indexed measure to drive improvements related to meeting defined process times for hiring, procurement, and IT. Hiring: FSIS will focus on reducing 

the time to hire for the third stage in the hiring process. That stage starts with the tentative offer and ends with the EOD date. FSIS seeks to reduce that time by 10% of 

the baseline (the baseline is an average of the last 3 fiscal years). IT: This measure calculates the process times for which development, modernization, and enhancement investments are met for specific projects. The FY 2020 target is 10% reduction from the baseline. Procurement: A representative number of contracts have been 

identified according to their impact and dollar value. The process times for each contract across three phases (planning, implementation, and closeout) will be met 75% 

of the time. Separately, FSIS will also continue to use internal process time metrics for resolving grievances and unfair labor practices as prescribed in the LmA, as well 

as preparing and deciding on discipline cases in accordance with 5 CFR. 

17 Reviews will include non-baseline projects only and will be conducted for projects until development is complete; more reviews will be conducted toward the end of the 

fiscal year as more activity will be available for review from the start of the year. Reviews exclude operational type projects such as travel.

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of defined process times met for hiring, procurement, and IT.16 (3.2.1.1) 78%

ANNUAL PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of reviews conducted of Agency enterprise governance-approved projects to ensure they are operating within their authorized budget and are on track in meeting project goals and milestones.17

% of grievances and Unfair Labor Practices complaints (ULP) processed in accordance with the Labor Management Agreement (LmA).

100%

95%
GOAL 3: Achieve Operational Excellence

Outcome 3.2: Improve Processes and Services

Result 15: Improve Service Delivery

In parallel with result 14, this result focuses on the delivery of high-quality services in a responsive and timely manner 

particularly, in the areas of procurement, HR, and IT. FSIS continues to develop and maintain a more robust service 

delivery standard that is attuned to individual and organizational needs. In addition, FSIS has emphasized more 

frequent and effective communication across program offices and servicing organizations to ensure needs are met, 

accountabilities are clearly identified, and outcomes are shared and mutually beneficial.

FSIS is actively engaged with the Department’s Office of Customer Experience (OCX), and we are pursuing several 

initiatives in this area. In FY 2019, we:

1. Successfully integrated the Small Plant Help Desk with AskFSIS. This provides a more consistent and 

 streamlined customer experience for small and very small plants.

2. Began the eDevice initiative, which will put computers into the hands of all FSIS field staff for the first time. 

 Not only will this be more efficient for training, timesheets, and travel, but it will also make the field staff feel like 

 part of FSIS by including them on communications and announcements, as well as providing access to Agency 

 resources and policies.

3. Took the lead in the Secretary’s OneUSDA call center pilot. We provided staffing resources to take over 

 administrative control, ensure that the pilot collects the information necessary for a long-run decision to continue 

 or stop the call center pilot, and provide guidance to the Department’s contractors to ensure that the software 

 being delivered meets the needs of the Department.

The Agency will build upon progress achieved in FY 2019 to enhance customer satisfaction in HR, Procurement, and 

IT. Illustrative examples include: 

Human Resources: In HR, FSIS will aim to sustain and/or exceed hiring manager and job applicant satisfaction with 

HR service delivery based on results gleaned from surveys administered by OPM. The Agency will also compress 

pre-employment activities to keep candidates engaged. The latter will be accomplished through on-site recruiting 

events targeting mission critical occupations and moving away from paper-based pre-employment tools to digital tools 

such as digital fingerprints and electronic forms submission. 

Additionally, HR will improve the employee onboarding experience by issuing a LincPass for each new employee by 

the end of the first week of employment, thereby providing access to FSIS systems more rapidly. HR will also begin 

creating individual employee electronic identification and e-mail accounts as part of the employee’s profile for faster 

receipt of Agency information.

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 31
32 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

GOAL 3: Achieve Operational Excellence

Procurement: In FY 2020, FSIS acquisition management will improve service delivery by assigning the program 

areas of FSIS a team of contract specialists headed by a lead contract specialist with subject matter expertise to serve 

as a central point of contact. The team lead will ensure the quality and timeliness of requested procurement actions, 

effectively communicate status of procurement requests, and manage workflow. This new process will eliminate the 

ambiguity program officials may face in identifying the contract specialist working their requirement thus improving 

service delivery.

Financial Systems: In FY 2019, FSIS continued to support the modernization of its export certificate process and 

began billing industry for PHIS export services. In addition, the Agency made efforts to modernize and automate financial systems used to allocate and track budgets for the State MPI Programs through the development of an internal 

financial management database and by improving the interface between USDA’s Financial Management Modernization Initiative and the Health and Human Services systems. In FY 2020, FSIS will continue work on building or modifying interfaces and automating business processes, increasing analysis capabilities, and gaining efficiencies in transforming complex financial data into practical information. This includes completing FSIS-specific projects (i.e., FRIO) 

related to budgeting and financial management.

Information Technology: In IT, FSIS will improve its approval process and customer support procedures to increase 

customer satisfaction and workforce productivity. For example, FSIS plans to use recent survey results to make improvements to the customer experience when requesting new hardware or software. 

Customer Service: In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to analyze data from recent surveys on services delivered to 

internal customers within FSIS. The findings will inform investment decisions regarding future potential enhancements. 

FSIS will also use survey data on employee preferences related to training course access and delivery to increase 

customer satisfaction. 

STRATEGIC PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

% of client satisfaction with key FSIS services. (3.2.2.1) 80%

ANNUAL PLAN MEASURES FY 2020 TARGETS

Maintain the Agency’s IT Customer Satisfaction rating. 90%
GOAL 3: Achieve Operational Excellence

Cross-Cutting

Result 16: Enhance Collaboration With Our Partners

FSIS maintains a multitude of collaborations and partnerships to improve food safety outcomes in a manner that 

would be impossible to achieve alone. FSIS engages with Federal, State, Tribal, territorial, and local agencies and 

stakeholders at meetings, conferences, and in working groups aimed at preventing and responding to foodborne 

illness and protecting public health.

Each year, FSIS builds on its successes from existing collaborations and in initiating new relationships to further its 

strategic goals to prevent foodborne illness, protect public health, and modernize inspection systems, policies, and the 

use of scientific approaches. During FY 2020, FSIS will focus on the following collaborations that will further U.S. food 

safety efforts. A description of each group referenced and additional collaborations can be found in the Appendix.

Food Emergency Response Network (FERN): FERN is a network of food testing laboratories consisting of more 

than 160 Federal, State, local, and Tribal laboratories jointly administered by FSIS and FDA. Its members have the 

capability to test for microbiological, chemical, and radiological contaminants in foods. The network has worked to 

increase the food defense capabilities of food testing laboratories throughout the Nation. This has been accomplished 

through training, method development, and method validation programs. Cooperative agreements between FSIS 

and State laboratories have increased the States’ capacities and capabilities for select and threat agent testing. The 

network has worked to protect the food system through targeted surveillance activities associated with imported foods, 

the school lunch program, retail samples, and NSSE. During FY 2020, FSIS will collaborate with FDA and other Federal partners, the cooperative agreement State laboratories, and State and local health departments on food defense 

testing for NSSE, including the Super Bowl and national political conventions.

FSIS-FDA Dual-Jurisdiction Establishments Workgroup: In January 2018, USDA and FDA entered into a formal 

agreement to increase regulatory and operational efficiency and improve program effectiveness through enhanced 

collaboration and coordination on areas of mutual interest. As part of the agreement, interagency workgroups were 

convened to improve coordination on issues of common concern. FSIS and FDA established an interagency Dual-jurisdiction Establishments Workgroup to bring greater clarity and consistency to jurisdictional decisions under FSIS and 

FDA’s respective authorities, identify and potentially reduce the number of establishments subject to the dual regulatory requirements, and define a transition period. The efforts of the working group will increase regulatory efficiency, 

decrease unnecessary regulatory burdens, and use government resources more efficiently to protect public health. 

In FY 2019, the Workgroup created an inspector tool that crosswalked language in the Food Safety Modernization Act 

Preventive Controls for Human Foods rule with FSIS’ HACCP and sanitation regulations. The tool aids regulators and 

small and very small dual jurisdiction establishments in transitioning away from the need to maintain separate documented food safety systems (one to cover FDA-regulated products and one to cover FSIS-regulated products), simply 

because the two agencies have different naming conventions for the required components of “food safety systems.” 

The Workgroup also initiated efforts to update and expand the Dual Jurisdiction Establishment MOU which will continue in FY 2020.

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 33
34 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

GOAL 3: Achieve Operational Excellence

FDA Initiatives: FSIS is currently working in collaboration with FDA on new initiatives for consumer education and 

looking for new and creative ways to engage consumers and to amplify consumer messages through new partnerships. 

Healthy People Food Safety Workgroup (HP FSWG): Healthy People is a long-standing Governmentwide initiative 

aimed at improving the health of all Americans through establishing and monitoring science-based 10-year national 

objectives organized across a range of health topics. The food safety topic is managed by the Healthy People Food 

Safety Workgroup (HP FSWG) which includes subject matter experts from FSIS, FDA, CDC and other Department of 

Health and Human Services entities, and the USDA, Food and Nutrition Service. The goal of the HP food safety topic 

area is to reduce foodborne illness in the United States by improving food safety-related behaviors and practices. 

In FY 2020, FSIS will continue to co-lead the HP FSWG with FDA and complete the data submission and reports for 

the HP 2020 objectives. The workgroup will also finalize the HP 2030 food safety objectives and targets and assist in 

the public roll-out of food safety objectives for the HP 2030 decade.

Human Food Produced Using Animal Cell Culture Technology: As a first step toward addressing how Federal 

regulatory agencies will assure the safety and accurate labeling of human food produced using animal cell culture 

technology and the inspection of establishments involved in the production of these products, the USDA’s Office of 

Food Safety and FDA entered into a formal agreement on March 7, 2019. This formal agreement describes the roles 

of FSIS and FDA with respect to the regulatory oversight of these products. In late FY 2019, FSIS and FDA established three workgroups to refine regulatory frameworks and develop more exact specifications. Specifically, FSIS 

and FDA established working groups tasked with developing processes and procedures for: (1) premarket food safety 

assessments by FDA, (2) inspections and the transition of oversight from FDA to FSIS during the cell harvest stage, 

and (3) labeling oversight by FSIS. 

These workgroups will continue their efforts in FY 2020. While FSIS does not anticipate proposing any new regulations for the harvesting or processing of cell-cultured food, as existing HACCP and sanitation regulations readily 

address all food safety risks posed by this technology, FSIS will likely develop new labeling requirements, including 

standardized naming conventions, through a public process, likely rulemaking, in coordination with FDA. This process 

will be informed by the thousands of public comments already submitted to FSIS regarding the labeling of these products.

Integrated Networks for Foodborne Outbreak Response and Management: During FY 2020, FSIS will strengthen 

its collaborations with network partners to increase awareness of FSIS’ outbreak response procedures and highlight 

data and information FSIS needs to support traceback investigations and food recalls. 

Interagency Retail Lm Action Plan, Enhancing Outreach on the Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Retail 

Delicatessens: In FY 2018, FSIS convened a retail workgroup to develop an interagency retail Lm action plan to 

guide outreach to support the control of Lm at retail delicatessens. This effort was in response to a recommendation 

from the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) to FSIS. In FY 2019, FSIS, in collaboration with FDA and CDC, convened focus groups of retailers and State and local agencies to gather input on the 

access to and usefulness of Federal outreach and other sources of information to support sanitation and safe handling 

of RTE foods at retail to mitigate the risk of listeriosis. 
During FY 2020, the FSIS retail workgroup will collaborate with FDA and CDC to map out current Federal outreach 

activities related to the control of Lm at retail and evaluate the information gathered from the focus groups to identify 

opportunities to better leverage limited Federal resources to support retail food safety. The information will be used by 

FSIS and its public health partners to develop the Interagency Retail Lm Action Plan supporting best practices in the 

control of Lm at retail delicatessens and to jointly develop and disseminate outreach materials for retailers on specific 

topics such as slicers. FSIS will post these educational materials on its website.

Interagency Collaboration on Genomics for Food and Feed Safety (Gen-FS): Gen-FS is an interagency group 

with agency leaders from FDA, CDC, FSIS, ARS, APHIS, and the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the 

National Institutes of Health. The collaboration’s primary objective is to coordinate, strengthen, and lead WGS efforts 

among Federal and State partners. 

In order to provide a harmonized view of what WGS can do in a public health or One Health setting and capture 

how it is being used, FSIS joined other Gen-FS members in drafting a manuscript titled, “The Use of Whole Genome 

Sequencing for Food Safety and Public Health in the United States - A Publication by the Gen-FS.” During FY 2020, 

FSIS will participate in the multi-agency clearance of the manuscript and assist in its submission for peer review and 

publication by a scientific journal. FSIS will also continue to co-lead the Gen-FS Biomarkers subgroup focused on 

identifying genes in Salmonella involved with virulence and pathogenicity, survival and adaptability, and resistance to 

biocides. In FY 2020, FSIS scientists will join other workgroup experts to develop a framework for risk ranking genotypes. FSIS will also participate in a new Gen-FS workgroup convened to improve the content and clarity of metadata 

associated with pathogens from food, animal, human, and other sources. 

National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF): This committee provides impartial, scientific advice, and/or peer reviews to Federal food safety agencies for use in the development of an integrated 

national food safety systems approach that assures the safety of domestic, imported, and exported foods. The committee reports to the Secretary of Agriculture through the Under Secretary for Food Safety and to the Secretary of 

Health and Human Services through the Assistant Secretary for Health. In FY 2019, FSIS facilitated the publication of 

the previous committee’s two completed reports, “Salmonella Control Strategies in Poultry” and “Virulence Factors and 

Attributes That Define Foodborne STEC as Severe Human Pathogens,” in the Journal of Food Protection. During FY 

2020, FSIS will continue to support the new committee which met in FY 2018 and approved two new charges, “The 

Use of Water in Animal Slaughter and Processing” and “Appropriate Product Testing Procedures and Criteria to Verify 

Process Control for Microbial Pathogens or appropriate indicator organisms in RTE Foods under FDA’s jurisdiction.” 

In FY 2020, FSIS will support meetings of the subcommittees as they continue efforts on the two charges and begin 

drafting reports. FSIS will also facilitate the recruitment of new NACMCF members and the development of work 

charges for the subsequent Committee to consider.

National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI): This committee advises the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture on matters affecting Federal and State inspection program activities, including food safety policies 

that will contribute to USDA’s regulatory policy development. In FY 2018, the Agency published Federal Register 

Notice (83 FR 50632) soliciting nominations for membership to fill pending vacancies. During FY 2019, FSIS submitted the Committee nomination and Charter packages for departmental approval. In FY 2020, FSIS will convene the 

Committee and present work charges for the Committee to address.

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 35

GOAL 3: Achieve Operational Excellence
36 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

Appendix: Collaborations, Partnerships, Organizations, Meetings and Conferences

Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) 

FSIS serves on the APHL Food Safety Committee in a liaison capacity. The committee, which is comprised of representatives from State agriculture, environmental, and public health laboratories, meets by teleconference each month 

and in person twice a year. The committee’s purpose is to share information, promote beneficial strategies, coordinate 

training, and develop methods standardization across labs. In the past, FSIS has collaborated through APHL to provide coordination for FERN activities, but this could be expanded to consider other laboratory efforts. 

Conference for Food Protection (CFP)

The Conference for Food Protection is a non-profit organization created to provide a formal process for representatives from the food industry, government, academia, and consumer organizations to identify and address emerging 

problems of food safety and formulate recommendations. Though the conference has no formal regulatory authority, it 

significantly influences food safety guidance, model laws, and regulations among all government agencies and minimizes disparate interpretations and implementation.

Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR) 

The Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response is a multidisciplinary collaboration of national associations 

and Federal agencies, including FSIS, working together since 2006 to improve methods at the local, State, and Federal levels to detect, investigate, control, and prevent foodborne disease outbreaks. Council member representatives 

include experts in epidemiology, public health laboratory, and environmental health activities and food regulation at the 

local, State, and Federal levels. CIFOR was created to develop and share guidelines, processes, and products that 

will facilitate effective and collaborative foodborne outbreak response. 

Dual-Jurisdiction Establishments Workgroup (January 2018 USDA-FDA Memorandum of Understanding) 

In January 2018, USDA and FDA entered into a formal agreement to increase regulatory and operational efficiency 

and improve program effectiveness through enhanced collaboration and coordination on areas of mutual interest. As 

part of the agreement, interagency workgroups were convened to improve coordination on issues of common concern. 

FSIS and FDA established an interagency Dual-Jurisdiction Establishments Workgroup to bring greater clarity and 

consistency to jurisdictional decisions under FSIS and FDA’s respective authorities, identify and potentially reduce the 

number of establishments subject to the dual regulatory requirements, and define a transition period. The efforts of 

the working group will increase regulatory efficiency, decrease unnecessary regulatory burdens, and use government 

resources more efficiently to protect public health.

Enhancing Outreach and Partnerships with 27 State Meat and Poultry Inspection (MPI) Programs

FSIS maintains a multitude of collaborations and partnerships to improve food safety outcomes in a manner that 

would be impossible to achieve alone. FSIS engages with State, Tribal, territorial, and local agencies and stakeholders at meetings, conferences, and in working groups aimed at preventing and responding to foodborne illness and to 

protect public health. FSIS builds on its successes from existing collaborations/partnerships with State MPI Programs 

to prevent foodborne illness and protect public health.
Appendix: Collaborations, Partnerships, Organizations, Meetings and Conferences

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 37

Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net) 

EHS-Net (pronounced S-Net) is a CDC-led collaborative forum of State and local environmental health specialists and 

Federal agencies, including FSIS, whose mission is to improve environmental health practice. These specialists collaborate with epidemiologists and laboratorians to identify and prevent environmental factors contributing to foodborne 

illness outbreaks.

Food Emergency Response Network (FERN)

In 2004, Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9 (HSPD-9) established the creation of the FERN under the joint 

oversight of FSIS and the FDA. The network’s mission is to integrate the Nation’s multi-level food testing laboratories to detect, identify, and respond to and recover from a bioterrorism or public health emergency involving the food 

supply. FERN provides Federal funding to FERN partner/State laboratories annually for the development of analytical 

methods, validation of analytical methods and targeted surveillance of FDA/FSIS regulated commodities at the retail 

level. FSIS will continue to provide joint oversight with the FDA FERN National Program Office. FSIS will continue to 

partner with the FDA in targeted surveillance oversight of NSSEs annually.

Food and Agriculture Government and Sector Coordinating Councils 

In 2003, the Federal Government designated the Food and Agriculture Sector as a critical infrastructure sector, recognizing its significant contribution to national security and the economy. Since then, the sector has successfully built 

public-private partnerships that improved information sharing, created forums to share best practices, and developed 

tools and exercises to improve incident response and recovery. FSIS will continue to work with partners from the private sector, academia, and Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments through the Food and Agriculture 

Government and Sector Coordinating Councils to promote voluntary adoption of food defense practices by FSIS-regulated establishments.

Food Forum — National Academies 

The Food Forum was established by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Food 

and Nutrition Board in 1993 to allow selected science and technology leaders in the food industry, top administrators 

in the Federal Government, representatives from consumer interest groups, and academicians to periodically discuss 

and debate food and food-related issues openly and in a neutral setting. The objective of discussions, however, is 

to illuminate issues, not to resolve them. Unlike study committees of the NASEM, the Food Forum cannot provide 

advice or recommendations to any government agency or other organization. Similarly, workshop summaries or other 

products resulting from forum activities are not intended to reach conclusions or recommendations but, instead, are to 

reflect the variety of opinions expressed by the participants.
38 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

Appendix: Collaborations, Partnerships, Organizations, Meetings and Conferences

FSIS Research Priorities & Research Collaborations 

FSIS maintains and publishes a list of food safety research priorities to promote research in areas of importance to 

the FSIS mission. FSIS convenes its Research Priorities Review Panel annually to identify data gaps and propose 

research topics and associated study priorities to FSIS management for approval. To facilitate support, research 

priorities are communicated to the food safety research community via the FSIS web page, scientific meetings and 

university/industry outreach. These priorities are also communicated to USDA ARS Food Safety National Program and 

USDA, National Institute of Food and Agriculture Food Safety Program via regularly scheduled meetings. FSIS often 

facilitates accomplishment of priority research by collaborating with food safety researchers. Such collaborations may 

include contributing samples, data, microbiological isolates, and scientific expertise.

Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) 

FoodNet conducts surveillance for Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, Listeria, Salmonella, STEC O157 

and non-O157, Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia infections diagnosed by laboratory testing of samples from patients. The 

network was established in July 1996 and is a collaborative program among the CDC; 10 State health departmentsConnecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, and selected counties in California, 

Colorado, and New York; FSIS; and the FDA. FoodNet accomplishes its work through active surveillance, surveys of 

laboratories, physicians, and the general population and population-based epidemiologic studies.

FoodSafety.gov

FoodSafety.gov is the cross-Federal website operated by the Department of Health and Human Services that FSIS 

uses to promote safe food handling to consumers. Representatives from FSIS, CDC, and FDA serve as the subject 

matter experts on the editorial board of the website. It serves as the “gateway” to food safety information provided by 

Federal agencies. FoodSafety.gov was launched after a working group of Federal partners identified confusion from 

consumers about where they should go to find reliable information on food safety topics. The website is now a “onestop shop” for consumers on food safety and covers all the information FSIS uses to promote safe food handling in 

detail. The website is frequently used as the call to action in social media messages, blogs, and press releases.

Healthy People Food Safety Workgroup (HP FSWG)

Healthy People is a long-standing governmentwide initiative aimed at improving the health of all Americans through 

establishing and monitoring science-based 10-year national objectives. Food Safety is one of the topic areas. The HP 

FSWG includes subject matter experts from CDC, FDA, other HHS organizations, USDA FSIS and FNS. The goal 

of the HP food safety topic area is to reduce foodborne illness in the United States by improving food safety-related 

behaviors and practices. 

Human Food Produced Using Animal Cell Culture Technology Workgroups

As a first step toward addressing how Federal regulatory agencies will assure the safety and accurate labeling of 

human food produced using animal cell culture technology and the inspection of establishments involved in the production of these products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Food Safety and FDA entered into a formal 

agreement on March 7, 2019. This formal agreement describes the roles of FSIS and FDA with respect to the regulatory oversight of these products. In late FY 2019, FSIS and FDA established three workgroups to refine regulatory 

frameworks and develop more exact specifications. 
Inter-American Network of Food Analysis Laboratories (INFAL) 

INFAL is hosted by the Pan American Health Organization. The network includes laboratories in every country in the 

Americas and offers a vehicle through which the laboratories exchange information, share data, and offer training. 

The INFAL mission is to promote the assurance of food safety and food quality in the region of the Americas for the 

prevention of foodborne diseases, protect consumers’ health and facilitate trade, and encourage and strengthen the 

development and interaction of food analysis laboratories within the framework of national integrated programs for 

food protection. Its general objectives are promoting methodological harmonization and methodological equivalence of 

food analysis laboratories, promoting the implementation of equivalent quality management systems in INFAL laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025), and strengthening the technical-scientific cooperation among the countries involved. FSIS is 

available to host laboratory methods training for countries in the Network.

Integrated Consortium of Laboratory Networks (ICLN) 

ICLN was established in June 2005 by a Memorandum of Agreement among 10 Federal Departments/Agencies. 

Signatories work cooperatively to optimize national laboratory preparedness, promote common standards of performance, and fill gaps in coverage across all response phases. FSIS participates monthly in Laboratory Network Coordinating meetings hosted by the ICLN. This group primarily develops and proposes policies and procedures but also 

establishes common operating guidelines/standard operating procedures for the ICLN. FSIS participates in tabletop 

exercises, functional proficiency events, and leveraged training coordinated by the ICLN.

Integrated Foodborne Outbreak Response and Management 

The biannual Integrated Foodborne Outbreak Response and Management Conference and PulseNet/OutbreakNet 

Regional meetings bring Federal, State, and local agency laboratorians, epidemiologists, environmental health specialists, and regulatory officials together to share the latest best practices in surveillance and outbreak detection and 

response to enteric diseases, with a focus on those caused by contaminated foods, water, and animals. 

Interagency Collaboration on Genomics for Food and Feed Safety (Gen-FS) 

Gen-FS is an interagency group with agency leaders from FDA, CDC, FSIS, ARS, APHIS, and the National Center 

for Biotechnology Information at the National Institutes of Health, with the primary function to coordinate, strengthen, 

and lead U.S. WGS efforts among Federal and State partners and further improve public health. The group works on 

cross-cutting priorities for molecular sequencing of foodborne and other zoonotic pathogens causing human illness 

for data collection and analysis and for the use of these data in support of surveillance and outbreak investigation 

activities.

Interagency Foodborne Outbreak Response Collaboration (IFORC) 

IFORC, chartered in 2013, represents an important effort to improve coordination of Federal foodborne outbreak 

response responsibilities of CDC, FSIS, and FDA. IFORC works to improve activities by CDC, FSIS, and FDA 

concerning multistate foodborne outbreak detection, hypothesis generation, hypothesis testing, food vehicle identification, control measures to prevent illnesses and deaths, root cause analyses, and the dissemination of information on 

identified food safety systems gaps to inform efforts to prevent future outbreaks.

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 39

Appendix: Collaborations, Partnerships, Organizations, Meetings and Conferences
40 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

Appendix: Collaborations, Partnerships, Organizations, Meetings and Conferences

Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC) 

To enhance the safety of our food, three Federal agencies - CDC, FDA, and FSIS - teamed up in 2011 to create 

IFSAC. The goal of this collaboration is to improve coordination of Federal food safety analytic efforts and address 

crosscutting priorities for food safety data collection, analysis, and use. The current focus of IFSAC’s activities is foodborne illness source attribution, defined as the process of estimating the most common food sources responsible for 

specific foodborne illnesses.

Interagency Retail Lm Action Plan: Enhancing Outreach on the Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Retail 

Delicatessens 

In FY 2018, FSIS, in collaboration with FDA and CDC, convened a workgroup to develop an interagency retail Lm action plan to guide outreach to support the control of Lm at retail delicatessens. This effort was undertaken in response 

to a recommendation from the NACMPI to FSIS. During FY 2019, FSIS, with input from FDA and CDC, gathered input 

from retailers and State and local health departments on the access and usefulness of Federal outreach and other 

sources of information to support sanitation and safe handling of RTE foods at retail to mitigate the risk of listeriosis. 

In FY 2020, this information will be used by FSIS and its public health partners to develop the Interagency Retail Lm

Action Plan supporting best practices in the control of Lm at retail delicatessens.

Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium (IRAC)

This consortium consists of representatives from 23 U.S. Government agencies, institutes and centers with responsibilities and related interests in the conduct of food safety risk assessments. In this consortium, agencies collectively 

work to enhance communication and coordination among the member agencies and promote the conduct of priority 

scientific research useful for the conduct of food safety risk assessment, advancement of modelling methods, and 

sharing data and information. The consortium supports continued advancement of the emergent field of quantitative 

microbiological risk assessment and evolving field of chemical risk assessment; both are required to guide major Federal policies and support risk management decision making. 

International Association for Food Protection Annual Meeting

The International Association for Food Protection hosts an annual meeting which provides attendees with information 

on current and emerging food safety issues, the latest science, innovative solutions to new and recurring problems, 

and the opportunity to network with thousands of food safety professionals from around the globe. The meeting which 

is held in various locations throughout North America and is attended by over 3,600 top industry, academic and governmental food safety professionals, has become the leading food safety conference worldwide. FSIS experts present 

on the Agency’s contributions in the field of food safety.

Laboratory Response Network (LRN)

The LRN was established by CDC in accordance with Presidential Decision Directive 39, which outlined national 

anti-terrorism policies and assigned specific missions to Federal departments and agencies. The LRN is charged 

with the task of maintaining an integrated network of State and local public health, Federal, military, and international 

laboratories that can respond to bioterrorism, emerging infectious diseases, chemical terrorism and other public health 

emergencies. FSIS has maintained its status as an LRN member lab since 2002. 
National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) 

This committee advises the Secretary of Agriculture on matters affecting Federal and State inspection program activities, including on food safety policies that will contribute to USDA’s regulatory policy development. 

National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF)

This committee provides impartial scientific advice to Federal agencies to use in developing integrated food safety 

systems from farm to table and to ensure food safety in domestic and imported foods.

National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring Program (NARMS)

NARMS is an interagency, collaborative partnership with State and local public health departments, FDA, CDC, and 

USDA. This national public health surveillance system tracks changes in antimicrobial susceptibility of select foodborne enteric bacteria found in ill people (CDC), retail meats (FDA), and food animals (FSIS). 

The primary objectives of NARMS are to monitor trends in antimicrobial resistance among enteric bacteria from humans, retail meats, and animals; disseminate timely information on antimicrobial resistance to promote interventions 

which reduce resistance among foodborne bacteria; conduct research to achieve better understanding of emergence, 

persistence, and spread of antimicrobial resistance; and provide data that assists FDA in decision making involving 

the approval of safe and effective antimicrobial drugs for animals. The NARMS findings from all the agency partners 

are published on a periodic basis in a single NARMS Integrated Report. The NARMS program at USDA focuses on 

sampling and testing of intestinal cecal contents, carcasses, and meat and poultry by FSIS.

Partnership for Food Protection (PFP)

PFP is a group of professionals from Federal, State, and local governments with roles in protecting the food supply 

and public health. PFP is the structure used to coordinate representatives with expertise in numerous specialties—

food, feed, epidemiology, laboratory, animal health, environment, and public health—to integrate activities in the food 

safety system. PFP is led by a Governing Council of members from Federal, State, and local agencies, for which 

FSIS has a non-voting representative; Governing Council is responsible for oversight and management of the overall 

Partnership.

FSIS collaborates with the PFP, FDA, and CDC on the planning of the Consumer Food Safety Education Conference 

which is a gathering of consumer health-focused professionals from public and private sectors to explore influences 

on consumers and the way forward to enhance proper food preparation and hand hygiene practices. Participants 

include food safety educators and communicators, public health, environmental health, and Cooperative Extension 

professionals, consumer advocates, food and beverage industry professionals, local, State and Federal Government 

and military personnel, and K-12 and college and university educators. The conference features take-home strategies, tools, and resources to support attendees in their efforts to tackle their biggest food safety education program 

challenges and influence consumer food safety attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors. The conference also provides 

opportunities to network and engage in collaborative dialogue with a range of health and food safety professionals.

FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 41

Appendix: Collaborations, Partnerships, Organizations, Meetings and Conferences
42 FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE 2020 ANNUAL PLAN 

Appendix: Collaborations, Partnerships, Organizations, Meetings and Conferences

PulseNet 

PulseNet is a national laboratory network, consisting of 83 laboratories in 7 U.S. regions and headquartered at CDC, 

that connects foodborne illness cases to detect outbreaks. PulseNet uses DNA fingerprinting, or patterns of bacteria 

making people sick, to detect thousands of local and multistate outbreaks. Since the network began in 1996, PulseNet 

has improved our food safety systems through identifying outbreaks early. This allows investigators to find the source, 

alert the public sooner, and identify gaps in our food safety systems that would not otherwise be recognized.

Rapid Response Teams (RRT)

RRTs are State-led multi-agency, multi-disciplinary teams that operate using Incident Command System/National Incident Management System principles and a Unified Command structure to respond to human and animal food emergencies. The teams can be comprised of partners from local, State, and Federal agencies, including FSIS, as well as 

stakeholders from academia and industry. The desired outcome of RRT development is to minimize the time between 

Agency notification of a human food or animal feed contamination event and implementation of effective control measures.

Shopper History Outbreak Partnership (SHOP)

The Shopper History Outbreak Partnership is a collaboration between FSIS, FDA, CDC, and State departments of 

health and agriculture with the goal of identifying and promoting best practices for the use of consumer purchase 

information to assist with investigating foodborne outbreaks. The partnership was initiated in 2016 to establish a forum 

for Federal and State partners to share experiences and resources regarding the use of purchase histories obtained 

via shopper/loyalty cards to assist with hypothesis generation and traceback of suspect food vehicles during outbreak 

investigations. Since then, the scope of the workgroup has expanded to include data from all purchases, including 

those made via credit/debit cards and online.

State Food Protection Task Forces (FPTF)

FSIS routinely participates on State agency–led food protection task forces that bring together the various stakeholders to discuss upcoming events and exercises, public outreach, and information sharing on current activities through 

periodic meetings. The stakeholders include personnel from local, State, and Federal public health and agriculture 

food regulatory agencies, law enforcement, and other food protection stakeholders. Additionally, FSIS participates in 

the FDA-led Coalition of Food Protection Task Forces, which promotes collaboration between State FPTFs and their 

members.

ACCOUNTABLE

FSIS holds itself accountable in fulfilling its regulatory mission and in 

serving the public interest.

COLLABORATIVE

FSIS actively promotes and encourages collaboration within our 

Agency and with our partners to prevent illness and protect public 

health.

EMPOWERED

FSIS employees are empowered with the necessary training, 

tools, and approaches they need to make and carry out informed 

decisions that protect public health and promote food safety.

SOLUTIONS-ORIENTED

FSIS is committed to deploying effective, evidence-based solutions 

to ensure that the Nation’s food supply is safe.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations 

and policies, USDA, its Mission Areas, agencies, staff offices, employees, and institutions participating in or 

administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, 

sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental 

status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil 

rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). 

Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American 

Sign Language) should contact the responsible Mission Area, agency, or staff office; the USDA TARGET Center at 

(202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY); or the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program 

Discrimination Complaint Form, which can be obtained online at https://www.ocio.usda.gov/document/ad-3027, 

from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain 

the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action 

in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged 

civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

(1) Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of

the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C.

20250-9410; or

(2) Fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or

(3) Email: program.intake@usda.gov

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

January 2020

FSIS CORE VALUES