US FSIS News

Veronica Wong Joins, Export Restrictions Move to APHIS

Veronica Wong joins the Office of Food Safety as Chief of Staff, bringing experience from USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area and Office of Congressional Relations. FSIS relocated animal health export restrictions for U.S. animal products for human consumption to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service website as of April 1, 2026, affecting products subject to restrictions based on Foreign Animal Diseases including Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, Newcastle Disease, African Swine Fever, and Foot and Mouth Disease. On April 6, a new landing page at ask.fsis.usda.gov will consolidate over 1,200 consumer Q&As and 800 inspection policy Q&As from askFSIS, the Small Plant Help Desk, and the Meat & Poultry Hotline.

FSIS Posts Q4 FY2025 Residue Report, Updates WGS Sequencing Method

FSIS posted its National Residue Program Quarterly Report for July to September 2025 covering residue sampling data for domestic surveillance, inspector-generated, and import programs for Q4 of fiscal year 2025. The agency also announced an update to its whole genome sequencing laboratory method to incorporate the Illumina MiSeq i100 platform, with integration beginning in May 2026 across FSIS laboratories. Multiple public comment periods are open through May 26, 2026 for information collection renewals covering sanitation SOPs, line speed rates, nutrition labeling, and other topics.

FSIS Leadership Changes, Import Refusal Data, Consumer Complaints Update

Dr. Melanie Abley has been named Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Public Health Science (OPHS) at FSIS, and Mr. Terry Dutko has been named OPHS Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator, both following prior roles within FSIS. The agency has released the FY 2025 Consumer Complaints annual summary and updated the Import Presented Refused and Import Refusal Reason datasets covering FY 2014 through the most recent FY. Multiple comment periods are open until May 26, including renewals of approved information collections for nutrition labeling, PHIS, new technology waivers, and voluntary destruction procedures. The Small Plant Forum engaged approximately 30 small and very small processors with FSIS subject matter experts on key regulatory topics.