U.S. House Takes Important Step to Block Hog Slaughter Inspection Privatization

“Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3055, a multi-agency appropriations bill that includes FY 2020 appropriations for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Included in the bill is a provision that requires the USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) to conduct a full review of the data that went into the proposed rule to privatize hog slaughter inspections. USDA is not able to finalize the rule until this review is completed and issues raised are addressed.  This is a welcome development.

“Privatization of hog slaughter inspections would remove up to 40% of trained inspectors from slaughter lines and replace them with company employees who are not required to be trained. In addition, the proposed rule would remove the cap on how fast those slaughter lines can run. Removing government inspectors while increasing line speeds is a recipe for disaster.

“A coalition of food safety, worker safety, and animal welfare advocates have repeatedly raised concerns about the flawed analysis USDA used to support privatization. This coalition supports the full review provision.

“We commend Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Congressman David Price (D-NC) for authoring the provision, and the U.S. House of Representatives at large for taking this action. Now that the full House of Representatives has spoken, we urge the USDA OIG to swiftly begin the much-needed review of the flawed rulemaking."

Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people’s health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.

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Contact: Jackie Filson, 202-683-2538; [email protected]