Agriculture Sonny Perdue this week sent two letters to Governors across the nation and leadership of major meat processing companies regarding the reopening of meat processing facilities.
The letters establish the Department of Agriculture’s expectations for the implementation of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order signed last week.
The President’s Executive order directs plants to follow the Centers for Disease Control and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidance specific to the meat processing industry to keep facilities open while maintaining worker safety.
USDA expects state and local officials to work with meat-processing facilities to maintain operational status while protecting their employees’ health.
USDA has also directed meat and poultry processing plants currently closed and without a clear timetable for near-term reopening to submit to USDA written documentation of their protocol, developed based on the CDC/OSHA guidance, and resume operations as soon as they are able after implementing the guidance.
