By TIM ALEXANDER

Illinois Correspondent

URBANDALE, Iowa — Opposition is mounting for USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue’s plan to enact the Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection proposed rule, which has been in “pilot project” mode for more than a decade.

According to some members of Congress, the rule would allow an unlimited increase in swine slaughter line speeds, endangering workers’ safety, public health and animal welfare.

“The … proposed rule removes all limitations on line speeds in hog slaughter plants, which will endanger the health and safety of tens of thousands of workers in the hog slaughter industry,” wrote 63 Congressional Democrats in an April 23 letter. “Even at current line speeds, pork slaughter and processing workers face many job risks that can lead to severe injury, illness and death.

“Meatpacking workers are injured at 2.4 times the rate of other industries and they face illness rates at 17 times the rate of other industries.”

Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) spearheaded the letter, although they are not alone in their opposition to the proposed rule. The National Employment Law Program and the workers’ union United Food and Commercial Workers agree the change would increase workers’ risks of injury, illness or even death, by increasing the average pork line speed of just over 1,100 to 1,200 carcasses per hour.

Moreover, the rule would privatize the food safety inspections system in hog slaughter plants, while reducing the number of government food inspectors present on a large pork plant’s processing line from an average of seven to as few as three. Instead, food inspectors would be provided by each plant – replacing most government inspectors – “while providing no requirement or funding to train plant employees on inspection technique,” according to the letter.

Changes to the hog slaughter inspection rule “should not occur at the expense of public health, worker safety or animal welfare,” according to DeLauro. “We must improve swine inspection and reduce contamination from pathogens associated with pork such as salmonella and campylobacter.

“However, FSIS (USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service) has not demonstrated through its hog slaughter pilot program that contamination – and therefore illness rates – are actually reduced. To the contrary, the evidence suggests these changes will undermine food safety.”

But according to the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), the proposed Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection rule is a necessary adjustment to an outdated rule that has been surpassed by new technology available for processing lines.

In addition, Dan Kovich, on-staff veterinarian and director of science and technology for NPPC, praised the FSIS Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points Inspection Models Project (HIMP) as providing valuable data to better focus FSIS inspection resources and partner with the pork industry to better ensure safe products.

“The modernization rule is an important step forward for both FSIS and the industry,” Kovich told Farm World. “It will allow for a more targeted, precise inspection system and more innovation in terms of adopting new technology, and better utilization of resources by using both the agency and industry.

“And it is not going to come at the expense of employee welfare, animal welfare or food safety.”

The inspection models project is in place at five U.S. pork processing plants and has been gathering data for almost 20 years, while employing company staff to perform food safety monitoring functions under continuous verification from FSIS inspection staff, according to Kovich.

“It’s been showing for almost 20 years that this new system does work. Those plants all have a good track record in terms of safety and welfare of employees and animals. This is something FSIS has been carefully refining and working on for a very long time,” he said.

Based on the proven success of the HIMP, NPPC and other proponents consider “now” to be the right time to implement hog slaughter inspection modernization. Kovich said he understands the concerns of the Congress members and union, but begs to disagree with their conclusions and decision to oppose the proposed rule based on HIMP data.

“It’s very important to realize that the current line speed cap is in no way a scientifically validated limit as to how safely those lines can run, be it for animal and worker welfare or food safety. It was a traditional inspection system based on the top speed at which the inspection process could be facilitated; nothing more,” he said.

“Under the new swine inspection system, the plant can design the line and put as many people on as they want to perform a lot of the pre-inspection tasks that FSIS employees used to do. The final inspection would still be FSIS’ purview.”

The new swine inspection system does nothing to alter any FSIS rules pertaining to animal welfare, Kovich said.

“Swine are subject to the Humane Slaughter Act; there is no pass or exemption to that. All of the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standards are still in place, and in terms of food safety this is actually a step forward, not backwards. The line speed issue is a bit of a red herring, I might think.”

While it is currently unclear if USDA’s proposed Modernization of Swine Slaughter Inspection rule gains approval, there is some precedent established. In chicken production, the American Federal Government Employees union (AFGE) took former President Obama’s USDA to court over safety and public health risks associated with a similar proposal.

A proposed speed-up of production lines was ultimately modified.

Meanwhile, on May 11, the USDA announced a proposed rule to eliminate a “redundant hog carcass cleaning regulation,” according to a government news release. The rule would remove a requirement that hog slaughter establishments clean carcasses before incising.