WASHINGTON – Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on March 17 that the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) would allow waivers for pork and poultry facilities to maintain higher line speeds.

The directive by Rollins instructed the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to eliminate outdated administrative requirements, according to the agency update.

“America leads the world in pork and poultry production, and we are committed to ensuring our producers remain competitive on a global scale without being held back by unnecessary bureaucracy,” Rollins said. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are cutting unnecessary red tape, empowering businesses to operate more efficiently, and strengthening American agriculture — all while upholding the highest food safety standards.”

Rulemaking to formalize these speed increases will begin immediately.

The notice from USDA also said that FSIS will no longer require plants to submit “redundant worker safety data, as extensive research has confirmed no direct link between processing speeds and workplace injuries.”

The Meat Institute announced its support for the latest move by the USDA.

“Secretary Rollins has proven she is serious about eliminating bureaucratic hurdles at USDA to ensure efficient production of safe meat and poultry products,” said Julie Anna Potts, president and chief executive officer for the Meat Institute. “We appreciate her wasting no time to support innovation in our industry. We look forward to working with the Secretary and our livestock and poultry suppliers to provide certainty to the supply chain and to allow additional companies the opportunity to utilize this system.”

The National Pork Producers Council (NNPC) also praised the move by the agency and explained how its advocated for the changes in line speed since 2019.

“America’s pork producers thank US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) for this needed action that will provide financial security and more stability for pork producers,” said Duane Stateler, president of the NPPC. “Without this program, some pork producers could have incurred an additional loss of nearly $10 a head.”

During 2023, the USDA extended six pork processing facilities the ability to operate faster during a “time-limited trial” (TLT) period.

In its remarks about the line speed changes, the National Chicken Council (NCC) explained what would be different regarding the announcement from the Trump administration.

“The current approach has created significant uncertainty for companies with waivers and a competitive disadvantage for those without them,” said Harrison Kircher, president of the NCC. “We appreciate the administration moving to ensure a level playing field and help increase the global competitiveness of the US broiler industry. We look forward to providing input as the rulemaking process begins and request that the agency work expeditiously to finalize a rule.”

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), representing thousands of meatpacking workers around the United States, came out against the latest agency move.

“Increased line speeds will hurt workers — it’s not a maybe, it’s a definite — and increased production speeds will jeopardize the health and safety of every American that eats chicken,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the RWDSU. “Worker safety must be a priority, and these facilities cannot operate at these speeds without increased staffing, which cannot happen the way they are constructed now.”

USDA provided two studies on Jan. 9 examining the effect of higher evisceration line speeds on poultry and swine processing workers.  FSIS noted in the studies that line speeds were not determined to be the leading factor in MSD risk at these plants. 

The FSIS previously extended the New Swine Inspection System (NSIS) through May, 15, 2025.

NCC provided more background about the program when it explained that nearly two dozen chicken processing facilities were allowed to have line speeds of up to 175 birds per minute during the Clinton administration.

The association added that the evisceration part of the processing line is almost entirely automated. It provides research from Poultry Science that higher line speeds do not predict food safety contamination risks like increased Salmonella.