Ag Secretary Sends Gov's, Stakeholders Letters on Meat Packing Expectations

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue sent the following two letters Tuesday night to governors across the nation and leadership of major meat Perdueprocessing companies. These letters establish the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) clear expectations for the implementation of President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order signed last week. The President’s Executive order directs plants to follow the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidance specific to the meat processing industry to keep these critical facilities open while maintaining worker safety.

“USDA expects state and local officials to work with these critical meat processing facilities to maintain operational status while protecting the health of their employees,” Secretary Perdue said. “Meat processing facilities are critical infrastructure and are essential to the national security of our nation. Keeping these facilities operational is critical to the food supply chain and we expect our partners across the country to work with us on this issue.”

Text of each of the letters can be found here: Letter to Governors (PDF, 82.8 KB) and here: Letter to Stakeholders (PDF, 82.5 KB).