USDA | Cooperative Interstate Shipping Program

Cooperative Interstate Shipping Program

The Cooperative Interstate Shipment (CIS) program promotes the expansion of business opportunities for state-inspected meat and poultry establishments.

Under CIS, state-inspected plants can operate as federally-inspected facilities, under specific conditions, and ship their product in interstate commerce and may have the opportunity to export them to foreign countries, provided the CIS participating State has entered into a supplemental agreement that addresses the export of CIS inspected products. No states currently have a supplemental agreement for exporting product. The CIS program is limited to plants located in the 27 states that have established a Meat and Poultry Inspection Program (MPI) and maintain “at least equal to” FSIS regulatory standards. Application Process

State-Inspected Establishments Interested in Applying

To participate as a plant, you’ll need to apply through an agency administrating the state MPI program. Once you complete your application then, the state will evaluate your submission and based on their findings, will or will not recommend you for the CIS program. To be considered for CIS by your state, you will need to have the following requirements: • Must employ fewer than 25 employees; • Have an adequate food safety system; and • Meet appropriate facility standards. Once the state determines you qualify then it will submit a recommendation on your behalf to the FSIS District Office for your state After the District Office reviews the state’s recommendation and accepts your application then you will need to comply with all the requirements under the Federal Acts as follows: • Meet the Federal regulatory sanitation performance standards in Title 9 CFR parts 416.1 through 416.5; • Submit labels to the FSIS select establishment coordinator with the Office of Field Operations who will forward the labels to the FSIS Labeling and

Program Delivery Division for review, except for those labels eligible for generic approval; • Obtain the same water source and sewage system approval that FSIS requires for federally-regulated establishments; • Develop written Standard Sanitation Operation

Procedures (SSOP) as noted in 9 CFR 416.11 through 416.16; and • Write a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) Plan in compliance with 9 CFR Part 417. These are the requirements to obtain a Federal grant of inspection. You must comply with all of them in order to be selected into the CIS program

FSIS Review of State Application

There are a number of key steps that a State needs to take in order to be eligible to participate in CIS beyond operating their own MPI. For instance, States must demonstrate that they have authority under their own laws to provide the same inspection services as FSIS provides in official Federal establishments. The necessary legal authority may come in the form of documentation that demonstrates the State incorporated the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) and the implementing regulations by reference. An example of such documentation is a copy of the law that authorized the incorporation. Alternatively, a State that has not incorporated all provisions of the FMIA, PPIA and implementing regulations by reference could submit a copy of a State law that gives State personnel the authority to enforce Federal food safety standards for purposes of a CIS Program. Another route would be to submit a legal opinion from the State Attorney General that confirms that State personnel have such authority.

Major Differences Between a Cooperative Interstate

Shipment Agreement and Federal Inspection

Subject CIS Inspected Federally Inspected

Inspection Personnel

State appointed, federallytrained inspectors Application Apply for a recommendation via the State where the establishment resides.

Inspection Label Federally Inspected seal with “SE” which symbolizes the product was made from a “state establishment”. The seal will usually have the abbreviation on the federal seal. Each legend will differ due to different state abbreviations.

Federally appointed inspectors Apply for a Grant of Inspection via the FSIS District Office associated with your state. One standard seal of inspection for carcasses, one standard seal of inspection for processed meats and a standard seal for raw and processed poultry.