USDA Third-Party Inspection Victory

When the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it was considering reducing the frequency of its inspections if facilities were accredited by private third parties, PETA sprang into action. A representative of the group spoke in opposition at every single listening session across the U.S. that the USDA held on this matter. PETA also submitted lengthy written comments with voluminous exhibits, organized demos outside a number of the sessions, filed a lawsuit related to inspection frequency, and alerted our members to contact the USDA—which helped result in the submission of more than 35,000 comments to the agency, the majority of which were on our side. In light of the opposition, the USDA announced that it will NOT be allowing third-party accreditation to influence its inspection frequency.