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Indiana’s meat inspection program to remain viable

By MEGGIE. I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Good news for Indiana meat processing facilities comes in the form of a recent announcement from the Board of Animal Health (BOAH) that its Meat and Poultry Inspection will remain a viable program, despite recent requests to drastically cut its budget.

“After excellent cooperation and much input from the meat processing industry, as well as Hoosier livestock producers, BOAH was able to work with the state budget agency to design a plan to overhaul Indiana’s Meat and Poultry Inspection Program (MPIP) to reduce expenses,” wrote Denise Derrer, public information director in a memo sent out Jan. 29. BOAH received an approved budget plan from the state for MPIP earlier that day.

The newly-released modified plan will preserve a viable state inspection program with a high priority on food safety of value-added, locally-produced food, according to Derrer’s note. While the new plan falls short of the initial 50 percent budget cut goal, MPIP will still achieve significant cost-savings.

“We ran the numbers and came to the conclusion that there was no way the program could survive based on a 50 percent budget cut,” said Dr. James Scott, division director for the MPIP. “So we came back with a plan we felt we could live with. It is a plan that is less of a cut than what they asked, but something we felt we could work with. So now the plan has been approved by the budget office, and we will begin to implement this newly-designed program. It’s not going to be easy, though.”

To achieve these savings, BOAH will focus more closely on products that will be entering commerce. However, orders considered for freezer beef and farmers’ markets will still need to be inspected to be sold, Scott explained.

“This will require a lot more planning on the part of plant operators,” he said. Basically, product for commerce such as wholesale product, as well as what Scott described as hybrid-retail product (freezer beef, farmers’ market product) will need to be processed on the same day that a state meat inspector is on the premise.

“But, they (plant operators) will still need to come up with a plan to keep the two products separate,” he added. “It’s a new day in meat and poultry inspection, with a new set of rules to play by. Everyone is being forced to adjust.”

At this point, Scott said the next steps are to collect final schedules from plant operators to determine a schedule that can accommodate both MPIP and the facilities. However, Scott did confirm that MPIP inspectors will be visiting plants less often and most likely on a different schedule than previously.

Next, MPIP will tackle the regrettable task of cutting an undetermined number of meat inspectors.

“We will be meeting with district directors to see who can work in what counties at what plants and make assignments from that point,” he explained. “We’re not certain yet at the exact number of inspectors to be cut. We will be looking for the most suitable, experienced inspectors, their proximity to plants and then determine who will be available to visit what facility.”

Scott lamented that MPIP, unfortunately, will not have the flexibility it once did.

“We just couldn’t do it with a 50 percent cut, but we can keep it going with this new plan,” he said.

More details will be unveiled in the coming weeks. Following last week’s story, “Indiana budget cuts tap meat inspectors,” in the Farm World, the MPIP wanted to share an update with plant operators and livestock producers.

“We wanted to take out a certain number of unknowns and uncertainty for those who are involved, we felt we owed it to everyone involved,” he stated, adding that the new plan will be implemented within the next two weeks. For questions, call 317-227-0355.

2/4/2010