“The USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer” 1 

 

Dear StateMPI Program Directors:

Over the last few months, FSIS has received a number of inquiries about proposed State

legislation concerning the regulation and inspection of meat and poultry and the possible

effect of each draft bill on the status of State meat and poultry inspection (MPI) programs

deemed to be "at least equal to" the Federal inspection program. Because the State bills 

differ from eachother and often change as we are reviewing them, rather than respond to

inquiries regarding each draft bill, we thought it better to outline how StateMPI programs

might be affected by the proposed State legislation we have recently seen.

As you know, FSIS annually evaluates State MPI programs to ensure that each has adopted 

and implemented laws, regulations, and programs "at least equal to" the Federal inspection

program. During these reviews, FSIS evaluates nine components:

1. Statutory Authority and Food Safety Regulations 

2. Inspection

3. Product Sampling Programs 

4. Staffing, Training, andSupervision 

5. HumaneHandling

6. Compliance

7. Laboratory Methods and Quality Assurance Program 

8. CivilRights

9. Financial Accountability

Obviously, State MPI programs must be found to be “at least equal to” the Federal program

for each of these components. Most of the draft legislation we have seen exempts from 

requiringinspection and labeling certain types of food products, including meat and poultry, 

depending on the manner and place of sale and the type of purchaser or end consumer. Some

of these proposed exemptions appear to be consistent with Federal statutory and regulatory

requirements, but many donot.

The Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA)

and regulations issued under them require the slaughter, processing, and labeling of meat and

poultry, with certain specific exemptions, to be conducted under inspection. In general, if

State legislation exempts meat and poultry products from inspection or labeling otherwise

required by the FMIA, PPIA or the Federal regulations, the State MPI program operating

under that legislation would no longer be “at least equal to” the Federal inspection program. 

United States

Department of

Agriculture

Food Safety

and Inspection

Service

Office of 

Investigation, 

Enforcement and 

Audit

Office of the Assistant Administrator

1400 Independence Ave., SW

Mail Stop 3133-S 

Washington, DC 20250
“The USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer” 2

Someexamples from State billsinconsistent with Federal requirements:

• State legislation exempting from inspection and regulation the processing of meat 

and meat products by producers or other business, other than retail stores and 

restaurants, for sale to consumers who have been informed that the products were 

processed without inspection.

• State legislation that exempts from State inspection poultry producers that slaughter 

or prepare 1,000 or fewer birds for intrastate sales, but does not specifically require 

the producer who raised the poultry also to slaughter them.

• State legislation that would allow rental contracts between certain poultry producers 

and slaughterhouses, making the rental slaughterhouses exempt from State 

inspection. There is no comparable exemption in the PPIA.

• State legislation that would amend a State’s definition of “custom” slaughter and 

processing to eliminate periodic State review of sanitation and wholesomeness for 

products produced by these operations. Eliminating these reviews would call into 

question compliance with Federal sanitation requirements for custom slaughter and 

processing establishments exempt from mandatory inspection.

• State legislation that would permit the slaughtering of livestock and direct sale of 

meat to consumers who are members of a “herd share” or similar organization that 

might, in turn, resell the meat. Such a provision would not be permitted under the 

FMIA’s custom slaughter exemption provisions, because it does not limit the sale of 

the livestock to consumers for their personal use.

If you have any questions, please contact Ron Eckel by telephone at (402) 344-5000 or by email at ron.eckel@fsis.usda.gov.

Sincerely,

Assistant Administrator

Office of Investigation, Enforcement and Audit