The continued
unfair enforcement of meat inspection regulations in small
and very small plants by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
and "equal to" state inspection programs is resulting in
the slow, but sure destruction of the small and very small
meat and poultry processing industry in the United States.
Those are the sad, but true facts that the American Association
of Meat processors(AAMP) pointed out at a Small Business
Administration Regulatory Fairness hearing recently in Washington,
DC.
In testimony presented to the government small business
watchdog, Bernard Shire, AAMP Director of Legislative &
Regulatory Affairs, also pointed to an onslaught of new
regulations and unfair laws that are hurting and destroying
the small meat and poultry processing industry.
He referred to inconsistent enforcement of inspection that
result "crackdowns" on small plants, while leaving large
plants and corporations virtually untouched. He noted that
rules, directives and notices are written and designed based
on how large plants work, with no consideration given to
the special problems faced by small plants, such as lack
of money, scientific knowledge and manpower. "I don't think
that giving small and very small plants an extra month or
two to implement a notice or directive evens the table,"
Shire said. He also voiced great concerns that more USDA
"rulemaking" is being done in the guise of directives or
notices, where little or no public input comes into the
process.
State Plants Follow Same Inspection Rules, Yet Can't
Ship Across State Lines
AAMP decried the fact that state inspected plants follow
the same regulations, directives and notices as USDA plants,
including HACCP and all other federal meat safety rules,
but are limited to selling their products only inside their
state borders. Virtually all plants under "equal-to" (USDA)state
inspection in 28 states are small and very small operations.
This restriction is probably the worst insult to small businesses
in the United States. No other American small business lives
under such a handicap. As a result of this, these 2,500
small and very small businesses pay a tremendous price,
that many fear could result in many of them closing. That
would result in meat and poultry processing strictly in
the hands of the large corporations, with even more consolidation
of the meat processing industry here.
A Bureaucratic Nightmare: Multiple Levels Of Inspection,
Tremendous Costs, Unfair Overtime, Scientific "Proof"
When USDA set up the HACCP system for inspection, it failed
to train its primary inspectors in the new inspection system.
So now it has set up multiple layers of inspectors, an inspection
presence intimidating to small meat processors. It has set
new rules requiring a large amount of product testing, which
is much more costly to small plants than to big ones. Regulators
are requiring plants to amass scientific validation for
processes that is far beyond the ability of small meat processors.
There is an attempt to force meat and poultry processors
to pay for inspection through user fees, even though inspection
benefits the public and not the industry. And inspectors
take advantage of small processors by billing them for large
amounts of overtime.
To obtain a copy of AAMP's testimony to the SBA, contact
the AAMP office. |
