USDA's Oversight of State Meat and Poultry Inspection Programs Could Be Strengthened
RCED-84-23
Published: Oct 21, 1983. Publicly Released: Nov 15, 1983.
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Highlights
In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) oversight of state meat and poultry inspection programs to determine whether USDA certification procedures conform to the authorizing legislation and to evaluate the methods used in special USDA internal review studies of state inspection effectiveness. In addition, GAO summarized the results of USDA ratings of state-inspected plants to identify trends and the relative standings of state programs from 1980 through 1982.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture should instruct the Administrator, FSIS, to include this area in all regular reviews of circuit operations made by the review and evaluation staff. The Administrator likewise should include this area in similar reviews of regional operations should such reviews be implemented on a regular basis in the future. |
Closed – Implemented
FSIS completed a project to assess the effectiveness of its state program equal to determinations. GAO recommended that FSIS work with the states to jointly develop procedures for state self-certification with periodic federal overview and evaluation. The Administrator, FSIS, accepted this recommendation and is beginning to implement it. He instructed staff to monitor the program once it is place.
|
| Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FSIS, to eliminate, or substantially reduce, the influence of custom/exempt plant reviews on state program ratings. This should be done by either basing ratings solely on reviews of official state-inspected plants or, if the Secretary deems it more appropriate, making revisions to the present rating system. |
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FSIS, to include uncorrected items found during followup visits at state-inspected plants with unacceptable items when computing state ratings. |
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FSIS, to implement proposed policy changes that would specify the number of times a state-inspected plant with unacceptable items should be revisited and the number of basic inspection items that should be covered. |
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FSIS, to use comparisons of state and federal plant deficiency rates when certifying state programs. This should be done by using the comparisons either as a general factor considered in reaching an overall judgment on a state's program or by using the federal rate as a basis for periodically adjusting the ranges of unacceptable item percentages now used to rate state inspection efforts. |
Closed – Not Implemented
USDA claims that the reviews of state and federal plants are made for different reasons and that direct comparison would be neither practical nor consistent with policy.
|
| Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, FSIS, to: (1) emphasize to circuit supervisors the importance of accurately reporting federal plant review results; and (2) require that area supervisors place special emphasis on this area during their normal oversight of circuit supervisor performance. |
Closed – Implemented
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
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Topics
LegislationMeat inspectionMonitoringPoultry inspectionProgram evaluationState-administered programsState programsPoultrySanitationFood safety