The Department of Agriculture released final rules Tuesday that will shift some inspection responsibilities at hog slaughter plants from USDA inspectors to meatpacking workers and allow plants to speed up processing lines. The overhaul of hog inspection, the agency’s first in 50 years, was criticized by consumer, animal, and labor groups for its potential to increase food safety risks as well as possible increased risks to plant workers.
The rule is supported by meat companies and industry trade groups, who say it will allow them to work more efficiently. USDA estimates that if all eligible plants implement this new voluntary system, about 150 plant inspector roles will be eliminated at the agency.
“This regulatory change allows us to ensure food safety while eliminating outdated rules and allowing for companies to innovate,” agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement.
Yet environmental, labor, and consumer watchdog organizations and some members of Congress have been critical of the hog slaughter rules since they were first introduced, arguing that the rules amount to a giveaway to meat companies who could see less oversight while achieving higher production.
“With today’s announcement, the Trump Administration has prioritized corporate, multinational meat processors’ interests over those of the American people and their families,” said Connecticut Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro in a statement. “Make no mistake: this is all about corporate profit, not food safety concerns.” Rep. DeLauro attempted to delay the hog slaughter rule in June via an amendment included in the House spending bill.
Labor organizations have also expressed concern that the rules, which eliminate caps on how fast meat companies can send pigs down the processing line, will expose meatpacking workers to a higher risk of injury.
“Increasing pork plant line speeds is a reckless corporate giveaway that would put thousands of workers in harm’s way as they are forced to meet impossible demands,” said Marc Perrone, the president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
Animal advocacy groups have also lined up against the rules, arguing that reducing the number of USDA inspectors and speeding up processing lines could open the door to less humane slaughter practices. Ingrid Seggerman, director of regulatory policy for the ASPCA, said in a statement that the overhaul “increases the potential for egregious violations of humane slaughter laws.”
The new rules are an expansion of a pilot program that USDA tested in five slaughter plants. USDA’s Office of the Inspector General is currently investigating whether the agency concealed or misrepresented data about the pilot program in its development of the final hog slaughter rule.