On September 30, 2022, a federal court granted summary judgment in favor of the USDA (and other government defendants), thereby rejecting a challenge by several consumer organizations to the agency’s New Swine Slaughter Inspection Service (NSIS) Rule, which establishes an alternative voluntary inspection system (84 Fed. Reg. 52,300 (Oct. 1, 2019).

Plaintiffs argued that the NSIS Rule violated the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) by transferring statutorily required inspection duties to slaughterhouse employees. The Court rejected this argument because, consistent with the FMIA requirements, the NSIS Rule provided that every animal carcass was inspected by USDA inspectors pre- and post- slaughter. Contrary to the allegations, the new responsibilities of slaughterhouse employees under the NSIS Rule (e.g., sorting animals prior to slaughter and palpating and excising lymph nodes) were not inconsistent with FMIA and USDA’s inspection responsibilities. Indeed, they helped to facilitate them.

The Court also rejected Plaintiffs’ argument that USDA’s rulemaking process violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because it irrationally departed from prior practice and was based on a flawed pilot project and risk assessment. In particular, the Court found that USDA had established that the new system would provide at least as much protection as the existing system and would improve the effectiveness of the inspection system.  Furthermore, the Court also found that USDA’s reliance on a pilot study, a risk assessment, and other data and information relied upon by the NSIS Rule was not arbitrary and capricious.