For use beginning 3/31/2022
This directive provides instructions to inspection program personnel (IPP), on deciding which carcasses to select for inspector-generated sampling under the National Residue Program (NRP) for meat and poultry products.
KEY POINTS:
• Public Health Veterinarians and IPP should use this list in conjunction with their professional judgement to prioritize selection of carcasses for KIS™Testing
• Public Health Veterinarians (PHVs) have professional discretion when determining carcasses to choose for residue testing

For use beginning 3/30/2022
This directive provides instructions to inspection program personnel (IPP) for completing sampling tasks for residue testing under the U.S. National Residue Program and for updating the Public Health Information System (PHIS) profile information related to residue sampling.
KEY POINTS:
• In-plant residue screening (Kidney Inhibition Swab (KIS™)) tests are not performed in poultry, exotic animals slaughtered or under voluntary inspection
• Tissues collected for residue testing do not need to be frozen prior to shipping to the FSIS laboratory • Samples for residue testing are to be collected in a sanitary manner and do not require aseptic technique

For use beginning 4/30/2020
This directive provides the method by which APHIS will be contacted for the collection of BSE Samples from cattle displaying CNS symptoms. It provides updated instructions on collecting samples only from cattle that are 12 months of age or older that display signs (e.g., head pressing, circling) of a central nervous system (CNS) disorder. KEY POINTS: • Sets out definition of collection procedures. • Provides sample collection for cattle displaying CNS symptoms.

For use beginning 11/1/2013
A. This directive provides Enforcement, Investigation, and Analysis Officers (EIAOs) with instructions for collecting samples as part of the IVT sampling program. The IVT sampling program includes the collection of product, food contact surface, and environmental (non-food contact surface) samples for testing for Lm or Salmonella. In addition, this directive provides instructions for scheduling IVT sampling.
B. FSIS is revising this directive to include instructions to EIAOs for performing IVT sampling in response to Salmonella positive verification testing results in ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry products. Previous versions of the directive only included sampling instructions for Lm. It also provides EIAOs with instructions for performing IVT sampling in establishments that temporarily alter their routine practices. In addition, this directive provides EIAOs with instruction to increase the number of IVT product samples they collect from 3 to 5 samples per unit, consistent with changes FSIS made in January 2013. This directive also provides EIAOs with instructions for verifying that establishments hold or control RTE products that FSIS has tested for pathogens, or that have passed over direct food contact surfaces that FSIS has tested for pathogens, pending the results of FSIS testing. In addition, this directive provides new instructions for submitting samples when interventions such as high-pressure processing (HPP) are applied. KEY POINTS:  EIAO sampling procedures in the IVT Sampling Program  Actions in establishments that temporarily alter routine practices during sampling

For use beginning 10/1/2021
This directive provides basic information on the moving window approach for Salmonella sampling for raw poultry products, including FSIS sample scheduling and the subsequent categorization of performance. It also provides instructions to inspection program personnel (IPP) for reviewing the establishment’s Salmonella control programs, and for collecting follow-up samples at establishments that do not meet (exceed) performance standards for chicken or turkey (poultry) carcasses, raw chicken parts, or not ready to eat (NRTE) comminuted poultry products. This directive also provides instructions for IPP to document a Memorandum of Interview (MOI) regarding categorization, to verify corrective actions and reassessment requirements (if applicable), and for Enforcement, Investigations, and Analysis Officers (EIAOs) to perform Public Health Risk Evaluations (PHREs) and Food Safety Assessments (FSA) when appropriate. Per 6 V.S.A. § 3305 (8), the federal meat inspection regulations and federal poultry inspection regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Title 9, Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 3, 9 CFR §§ 300.1 et seq., together with any amendments, supplements, or revisions thereto, are adopted, for the State meat inspection program to operate in an ‘equal to’ status.

For use beginning 12/1/2022
VAAFM verification of establishment compliance with Listeria controls is an important food safety verification activity that supports VAAFM’s food safety and public health goals. This directive provides instructions for inspection program personnel (IPP) to verify that establishments that produce post-lethality exposed Ready-to-Eat (RTE) products control Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) through a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan or prevent Lm through a Sanitation Standard Operating Procedure (Sanitation SOP) or other prerequisite program. This directive also includes instructions for verifying RTE products that are not post-lethality exposed (e.g., cook-in-bag) are properly classified.
This directive has been revised in its entirety to provide updated instructions to IPP for verifying that meat and poultry establishments are complying with the regulatory requirements of 9 CFR 430.4, Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Post-Lethality Exposed Ready-to-Eat Products (the “Listeria Rule”). The directive has also been revised to reflect changes that were made when the Agency affirmed the interim final Listeria Rule, including clarifying that establishments may not release into commerce product that the establishment collected under its Lm control program and has tested positive for Lm or has been in contact with Lm-contaminated surfaces without reprocessing the product (80 FR 35178). The directive also clarifies how IPP are to verify 9 CFR 417.2(a)(2) compliance for products that are not post-lethality exposed (e.g., cook-in-bag) in response to several recent outbreaks implicating products that were incorrectly classified as not post-lethality exposed. The directive no longer contains supplemental information task tables which were moved to IPP Help, RTE Verification. Instructions concerning sampling of RTE products are contained in a new VT Directive 10,240.3, Ready-to-Eat Sampling Programs. Per 6 V.S.A. § 3305 (8), the federal meat inspection regulations and federal poultry inspection regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Title 9, Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 3, 9 CFR §§ 300.1 et seq., together with any amendments, supplements, or revisions thereto, are adopted, for the State meat inspection program to operate in an ‘equal to’ status.
KEY POINTS:
• Verifying an establishment’s compliance with the Listeria Rule, 9 CFR 430
• Verifying establishment sampling and testing programs meet the regulatory requirements of the Listeria Rule in both design and execution

For use beginning 3/3/2022
This directive provides Public Health Veterinarians (PHVs) with instructions on how to submit specimens for pathologic evaluation to the FSIS Eastern Laboratory.

For use beginning 2/1/2015
This directive instructs Enforcement, Investigations, and Analysis Officers (EIAOs) and other inspection program personnel (IPP) on the steps that they are to take for traceback investigations when VAAFM or another Federal or State agency finds that ground beef or bench trim have tested presumptive-positive for E. coli O157:H7. Additionally, this directive provides information on how IPP are to determine whether an establishment has experienced a high-event period (HEP), and information on when EIAOs or other IPP are to contact the Meat Inspection Office to request a recall from suppliers.
KEY POINTS:
• Instructs EIAOs and other IPP on how to conduct product traceback from the grinder or bench trim establishment
• Instructs EIAOs and other IPP on what an HEP is, and on the steps that they are to take to verify that an establishment’s action in response to an HEP is appropriate
• Instructs Office personnel on actions that they are to take during a product traceback
• Provides information on requesting that a sole source originating supplier slaughter establishment recall product when VAAFM laboratories or another Federal or State agency identifies that establishment as having sent product into commerce from a lot that tested positive in a sample collected at the grinder or bench trim (receiving) establishment

For use beginning 10/1/2020
This directive provides instructions to inspection program personnel (IPP) on the verification activities, other than VAAFM sampling, related to Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) and non-O157 Shiga toxinproducing E. coli (STEC). This directive is being reissued to reflect current policy regarding the importation and movement of product through commercial establishments bearing instructional statements concerning STEC, in Chapter IV Sections V and VI. These instructions were previously included in Notices. It also provides additional information on reassessment requirements when establishments have produced product found positive for STEC.
KEY POINTS:
• IPP verify HACCP regulatory requirements in establishments that produce raw beef products by performing the HACCP Verification Task and a HAV task
• Verification activities for raw beef products are applicable to raw veal products

NOTE: For the purposes of this directive, when the directive references raw beef, veal and not ready-to-eat (NRTE) beef are included.

For use beginning 5/28/2022
This directive provides the procedures Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets Meat Inspection Service (VAAFM MIS) program employees are to follow when issuing a Stop Use/Stop Sale Order, or detaining/preparing a recommendation to seize, meat and poultry products found in commerce when there is reason to believe that the products are adulterated, misbranded, or otherwise in violation of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA), (the Acts) and 6 V.S.A Chapter 204 of the Vermont Statues (6 V.S.A).
KEY POINTS:
• Identifying Circumstances in which program employees are to detain product and, when necessary, initiate a recommendation for seizure
• Identifying Circumstances in which program employees are to issue a Stop Use or Stop Sale Order
• Communicating with product owners, agents, or custodians including Understanding Product Detention
• Procedures to detain product and other factors to consider as part of the detention process
• Voluntary product dispositions, including product donations
• Documenting and supporting detention and seizure actions • Terminating detention actions and product seizure