Skip to main content

Agriculture and Food

Jump To:

Open Recommendations

Food Safety: USDA Should Take Additional Actions to Strengthen Oversight of Meat and Poultry [Reissued with revisions on Jan. 23, 2025]
GAO-25-107613
Jan 23, 2025
Show
5 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Food Safety and Inspection Service The Administrator of FSIS should develop a prioritization plan to fully document which products to address and the additional policies needed to effectively address pathogen reduction for Salmonella in meat and standards for Campylobacter in turkey parts. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Food Safety and Inspection Service The Administrator of FSIS should review the public health impacts of delaying proposed pathogen standards for Salmonella in meat and standards for Campylobacter in turkey parts, to inform a prioritization plan. This review could include assessing risks to human health and gathering information about potential gaps in oversight. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Food Safety and Inspection Service The Administrator of FSIS should update its memorandum of understanding with APHIS, or create a new agreement, to clearly identify specific pathogens of concern and each agency's responsibilities in coordinating and responding to these pathogens' occurrence in outbreak investigation activities. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service The Administrator of APHIS should update its memorandum of understanding with FSIS, or create a new agreement, to clearly identify specific pathogens of concern and each agency's responsibilities in coordinating and responding to these pathogens' occurrence in outbreak investigation activities. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Food Safety and Inspection Service The Administrator of FSIS should offer educational materials, such as signage, to its regulated plants on sanitation to support their efforts to comply with FSIS's requirements and guidance to reduce the spread of pathogens in meat and poultry products. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Food Safety: FDA Should Strengthen Inspection Efforts to Protect the U.S. Food Supply
GAO-25-107571
Jan 08, 2025
Show
5 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Congress Congress should consider directing FDA to conduct an analysis to determine the annual number of foreign food facility inspections sufficient to ensure the safety of imported food, and communicate this number and FDA's underlying analysis to Congress. (Matter for Consideration 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Congress Congress should consider, upon receiving the relevant information and analysis from FDA, updating the annual target for the number of foreign food facility inspections FDA should conduct to ensure the safety of imported food. (Matter for Consideration 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Food and Drug Administration The Commissioner of FDA should take steps to determine the appropriate size and workload of its foreign investigator cadre for the purpose of meeting FDA's foreign inspection goals and ensuring FDA's ability to safeguard imported food. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Food and Drug Administration The Commissioner of FDA should identify and implement additional procedures to minimize incidences of attempted inspections of domestic food facilities. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Food and Drug Administration The Commissioner of FDA should develop and implement a performance management process that includes defining the desired results of FDA's food safety inspection efforts, collecting performance information on these efforts, and using this information to assess performance, inform FDA decision-making, and communicate to Congress and the public about results. Specific elements of this process could include, but not be limited to, data and information on FDA's progress in recruiting and retaining food safety investigators and in minimizing incidences of attempted inspections. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

School Meal Programs: Additional Data and Outreach Could Help Charter School Participation
GAO-25-106846
Dec 11, 2024
Show
2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the Administrator of FNS conducts an assessment to determine whether there are cost-effective ways to obtain reliable information on state-level variation in participation and factors that affect charter schools' ability to participate in school meal programs. (Recommendation 1)
Open
USDA agreed with this recommendation. We will monitor the agency's progress to address it.
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the Administrator of FNS conducts additional outreach to share relevant information on school meal programs with charter schools. Such outreach could include encouraging state agencies to share reminders of existing resources with charter schools, such as FNS's memorandum on charter schools or the Child Nutrition Sharing Site. (Recommendation 2)
Open
USDA agreed with this recommendation. We will monitor the agency's progress to address it.

H-2A Visa Program: Agencies Should Take Additional Steps to Improve Oversight and Enforcement
GAO-25-106389
Nov 14, 2024
Show
2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Homeland Security The Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services should establish a schedule, including milestones, for complete end-to-end electronic processing of H-2A visa program petitions. (Recommendation 1)
Open
USCIS agreed with this recommendation. The agency reported initial discussions regarding requirements to prioritize electronic filing for I-129 H-2A petitions. However, they noted that efforts regarding the detailed planning and scheduling of any electronic IT enterprise activity, including end-to-end processing, are contingent on agency priorities and leadership approval. Any timeline to enable electronic processing will also depend on factors , such as moving Form I-129 H-2A filing intake and making enhancements to case management systems to handle electronic processing of records. USCIS is also reviewing other categories for onling filing: sequencing these filing types will affect the delivery of other electronic processing. The agency is in theprocess of prioritizing and sequencing IT work and will present a prioritized proposed workplace for approval and execution. They estimate these efforts will be complete by June 2025 and we will consider closing this recommendation when that occurs.
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure that the Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, identifies and evaluates options, including the costs and benefits of those options, for reducing the resource burden on WHD in its efforts to find workers to return back wages. (Recommendation 2)
Open
WHD agreed with this recommendation. WHD prioritizes ensuring workers receive their back wages and is committed to using various strategies to find unlocatable workers. They will explore ways to find workers due back wages. We will monitor these efforts.
View More Recommendations

Related Pages

GAO Contacts