WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Brad Finstad (R-Minn.), along with House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-Pa.), applauded the Department of Agriculture (USDA) for extending the Time-Limited Trial for New Swine Inspection System (NSIS) plants, but cautioned that the short 90-day extension would do little to provide needed certainty for pork producers, who contract with processing facilities many months in advance. The announcement comes weeks after Grassley and Finstad led a bicameral letter requesting USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack issue the extension to ensure participating processing plants can continue operating at increased line speeds. This is the second time USDA has extended the trial at Grassley and Finstad’s urging.
“Iowa’s pork producers, who lead the nation in pork production, depend on certainty and consistency in the pork supply chain. While USDA’s New Swine Inspection System trial has proved to be safe and effective at swiftly processing hogs, a short three-month extension of the expiring program does little to help producers, who often contract with processors many months in advance. While I’m pleased that USDA has taken a step in the right direction by extending the program, the agency risks creating a harmful bottleneck in the pork supply chain if it fails to extend the program beyond just three months,” Grassley said.
“Since the Time-Limited Trial began, participating pork processing facilities have demonstrated that increased line speeds are safe and effective,” Finstad said. “While today’s announcement is welcome news, I will continue to urge USDA to provide certainty to our pork processors and producers by permanently allowing them to continue functioning at full operational capacity, which is why I was proud to introduce legislation earlier this year that would authorize increased line speeds outside of short-term trial periods.”
"While I welcome today’s announcement of a short-term extension, I remain concerned that the Biden administration’s actions on pork processing line speeds only removes the certainty that the nation’s producers, processors and consumers deserve," Thompson said. "As USDA moves toward a more permanent solution, it is my hope the department operates with transparency to ensure our pork processing facilities can maintain full operational capacity and protect our nation’s food supply."
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