Swine processing facilities operating under a trial of increased line speeds will have an additional 90 days to run at the faster limits as USDA continues to collect and submit data on the impact to workers, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a constituent update late Tuesday.
FSIS in consultation with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration established the time-limited trials with six swine establishments in November 2021 after a judge blocked the higher line speeds from being a component of USDA's New Swine Slaughter Inspection System. FSIS set a deadline on the trials for this Thursday.
FSIS said Tuesday it contracted with a third-party team of worker safety experts to evaluate the data submitted by the swine establishments. “The team of experts determined that the data submitted was not sufficient to evaluate the impact of increased line speeds on worker safety in NSIS establishments,” FSIS said.
To obtain the data necessary to inform any future rulemaking, FSIS said it is commissioning a study that will “independently generate the necessary data for expert analysis.”
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While the study is being designed by the team of experts, FSIS said it will extend the time-limited trials for “up to an additional 90 days.”
FSIS said it will send letters to the six swine establishments with additional requirements they will need to follow during the 90-day period, “including keeping in place measures outlined in their worker safety agreements.”
The National Pork Producers Council said it is “confident the study will yield consistent, positive findings, paving the way to establishing NSIS as a permanent program.”
North American Meat Institute spokesperson Sarah Little said member companies “provided all data requested” by USDA.
“Our members will continue to work with the agency to ensure that the time limited trials demonstrate the safety of the NSIS and the innovation of modern pork processing,” she said.
Estimates from Iowa State University suggested pork processing capacity may need to be reduced by at least 2.5% nationwide – or 260,000 hogs per month – if slower line speeds were reinstated.
A recent analysis released by the Senate Agriculture Committee Republicans said slower line speeds will harm farmers with lower demand for hogs and could increase pork costs to consumers.
“Amidst a historically dire pork market, we thank Secretary Vilsack for his actions to preserve harvest capacity, which provides market power to producers when selling hogs,” NPPC President and Missouri pork producer Scott Hays in a statement. “Without the extension, pork producers would incur additional losses of nearly $10/head in Q1 and Q2 2024.”
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