
Who regulates animal feed?
Who Regulates Animal Feed? FDA regulates animal feed to ensure that it's safe for the billions of animals in the U.S., including chickens, turkeys, cows, pigs, sheep, fish, dogs, cats, and horses. What are FDA's responsibilities?
Does the Department of Agriculture enforce laws on pet food?
However, each State Department of Agriculture does not enforce all laws they are required to enforce with pet food/animal feed; states follow FDA’s lead in lack of enforcement of some pet food laws. The Association of American Feed Control Officials has no regulatory authority over pet food.
What government agency is responsible for animal welfare?
The USDA is the primary federal agency charged with regulating animal food production and slaughter industries. Through sub-agency programs, the USDA oversees food production laws. However, there are no federal laws that set humane care standards for animals in factory farms. Performs wildlife damage management activities.
What are the different regulatory bodies for pet food?
1 FDA. The Food and Drug Administration is the main regulatory body over pet food. ... 2 State Department of Agriculture. State Department of Agriculture is a secondary regulatory authority over pet food having almost as much responsibility as FDA. 3 AAFCO. ... 4 USDA. ... 5 Jurisdiction. ... 6 Filing a pet food complaint. ...

Who has the responsibility to oversee the treatment of food animals?
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspects slaughter facilities, animals, and meat products.
Who enforces the Animal Welfare Act?
USDA Animal CareUSDA Animal Care, a unit within the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, administers the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).
Who governs the care of animals used in research?
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) enforces this act by inspecting laboratories and monitoring compliance with the act.
What level of government is responsible for animals?
Municipal Government This is where their power related to animals is usually derived from.
What agency has responsibility for regulating the care and management of small animals?
The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for regulating animal drugs, feeds/foods, devices, and most animal health products; however some classes of animal products come under the jurisdiction of other Federal or State government agencies.
Who fights for the protection of animals?
Since its inception in 2010, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisation (FIAPO) has been working to ensure welfare of animals in India by partnering with several animal rights protection organisations and activists in the country.
How does the government regulate animal testing?
The federal law called the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) sets high standards of care for lab animals with regard to their housing, feeding, cleanliness, ventilation and medical needs. It also requires the use of anesthesia or analgesic drugs for potentially painful procedures and during post-operative care.
Does FDA require animal testing?
Does FDA require animal testing for cosmetics? The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act does not specifically require the use of animals in testing cosmetics for safety, nor does it subject cosmetics to FDA premarket approval.
What does PETA say about animal testing?
Animals are not ours to use for experiments. They have their own wants, interests, needs, and feelings—independent of what purpose they might serve humans. In short, they are their own people and they don't consent to being tortured and killed in laboratories.
What are two levels of legislation that farmers must follow in the care of animals?
Provincial and territorial legislation concerning farm animal welfare.
What is animal Health Act?
AN ACT to provide for the eradication and prevention of the spread of animal pests and diseases in Zimbabwe, for the prevention of the introduction into Zimbabwe of animal pests and diseases and for incidental matters. [Date of commencement: 1st January, 1961.]
What is animal mistreatment?
Animal abuse, or animal cruelty is the crime of inflicting physical pain, suffering or death on an animal, usually a tame one, beyond necessity for normal discipline. It can include neglect that is so monstrous (withholding food and water) that the animal has suffered, died or been put in imminent danger of death.
What is the FDA's food law?
The basic food and drug law in the U.S. is the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). Under this law, FDA is responsible for making sure food for both people ...
What is the FDA responsible for?
Under this law, FDA is responsible for making sure food for both people and animals is safe, properly manufactured, and adequately labeled.
What is FSMA food safety?
FSMA requires animal food facilities to create and implement a food safety plan. In the first part of the plan, the facilities assess food safety hazards that are potentially associated with the animal food (this is called “hazard analysis”).
What does the FDA use to determine if a product is a food or a drug?
FDA uses the above definitions of “food” and “drug” in the FD&C Act to determine if a product marketed as a food product is indeed food or if it’s a drug instead. Food.
What is the AAFCO?
AAFCO: Association of American Feed Control Officials. To understand how FDA regulates pet food, it’s important to first understand several key concepts and some of the laws and regulations regarding food for animals. The basic food and drug law in the U.S. is the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act).
What does "food" mean in the FD&C Act?
The FD&C Act defines the term “food” as “articles used for food or drink for man or other animals... and articles used for components of any such article .". Courts have interpreted this to mean a product used primarily for nutrition, taste, or aroma or components of that product.
Does the FDA regulate pet food?
While AAFCO itself has no regulatory authority, this voluntary association of local, state, and federal feed control officials works to:
Animal Welfare Act History Digital Collection (AWAHDC)
The AWAHDC contains U.S. Government publications related to the AWA that fall into three categories: legislative history, regulatory history, and USDA publications. Select the 4 resources to the right to read the original Act and some of its amendments.
Animal Welfare Act Timeline
Not sure where to start in our digital collection? Want a quick overview of the AWA and its amendments? Take a look at our interactive timeline! It highlights the amendments to the Act over time and shares a brief summary of how the law changed with each amendment. You can also view a static version of the timeline .
Current Law and Regulations
The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) requires that minimum standards of care and treatment be provided for certain animals bred for commercial sale; used in research, teaching, or testing; transported commercially; or exhibited to the public.
Resources from USDA APHIS
This guide is used as an aid for APHIS personnel when inspecting USDA licensed and registered facilities. It can also be used by anyone to understand what APHIS inspectors are observing during an inspection.
What is the FDA's regulation of pet food?
Federal laws the FDA is charged with enforcing include the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, the Food Drug and Cosmetic Amendments Act , the Food Safety Modernization Act.
What is the state department of agriculture?
State Department of Agriculture. State Department of Agriculture is a secondary regulatory authority over pet food having almost as much responsibility as FDA. Responsibilities include: most US States require pet food manufacturers to register each food or treat sold within state boundaries on a yearly basis – often charging fees ...
What is the APHIS division?
Another division of USDA – APHIS (Animal Plant Health Inspection Services) – provides minor oversight of pet food but only in regards to products that are exported outside the US; their duties are limited to services to assure the exporting pet food product meets importing country’s law.
What is a pet food processor?
Pet Food Processors who prepare fresh or frozen raw meat products for pet food. Importers of fresh or frozen raw meat, meat by-products, horsemeat, poultry meat or poultry meat by-products for pet food or horsemeat for human food.
Why do party animals use Evangers?
The folks at Party Animal use Evangers facility because it is the only pet food canning facility certified for organic manufacture. The owners waited some time for Evangers to obtain this certification so that they could make organic pet food. Evangers had to take many extra steps to obtain it.
Is AAFCO a regulatory agency?
Many consumers believe AAFCO enforces law with pet food, but…they don’t. AAFCO has no regulatory authority at all.
Does the USDA have a pet food certification program?
The United States Department of Agriculture has no regulatory authority over pet food. The USDA does have a voluntary pet food certification program, but it is not acknowledged by FDA or State Department of Agriculture.
What are livestock regulations?
In addition to safeguarding the environment, livestock regulations also govern imports from other countries, feeding practices, and food safety for meat products. Administered by different Federal agencies, these regulations are designed to protect both livestock-producing enterprises and the food-consuming public.
What is the USDA inspection service?
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspects slaughter facilities, animals, and meat products.
What is the Federal Government?
The Federal Government administers policy and publishes regulations for livestock and livestock-related issues through USDA and other Federal agencies. Policy covers programs ranging from livestock insurance to environmental conservation programs. Federal regulations on manure storage and disposal, animal health and safety, ...
What is the Aphis?
APHIS is also responsible for ensuring domestic livestock health and animal welfare. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) oversight of livestock feeding similarly safeguards the Nation's food supply and public health. (Information is available from FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition .)
What are the regulations on manure?
Federal regulations on manure storage and disposal, animal health and safety, mandatory price reporting, and country-of-origin labeling influence how livestock and meat are produced and marketed.
What is the Environmental Quality Incentives Program?
These include the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which provides technical, educational, and financial assistance to eligible farmers and ranchers to address soil, water, and related natural resource concerns on their lands in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner.
When did the USDA start requiring price and supply reporting?
USDA implemented its Mandatory Price Reporting (MPR) program in April 2001 in response to requests from livestock producers, packers, and other market participants for more price information at various stages in the marketing chain. Improved USDA price and supply reporting enables producers to more confidently contract for purchase and assess supply/demand conditions, ensuring fair competition in the marketplace for livestock and livestock products.
What is USDA Animal Care?
USDA Animal Care, a unit within the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, administers the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). This federal law establishes requirements concerning the transportation, sale, and handling of certain animals and includes restrictions on the importation of live dogs for purposes of resale, ...
Why did the Animal Welfare Act change?
In order to keep pace with the modern marketplace and to ensure that animals sold via the Internet or other non-traditional methods receive humane care and treatment , USDA changed the Animal Welfare Act regulations by revising its definition of retail pet store..
Does AWA cover every animal?
The AWA, which became law in 1966, does not cover every type of animal used in every type of activity.
What is the APHIS?
The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is responsible for enforcing the AWA. APHIS licenses and registers animal businesses, such as circuses, breeders, and animal laboratories. While APHIS conducts annual inspections to ensure that facilities are adhering to the AWA and associated regulations, the USDA’s Office of Inspector General has repeatedly found that APHIS is not adequately inspecting facilities or enforcing the AWA. Currently, there are only about 100 USDA inspectors to oversee more than 9,000 facilities (1,200 of which are animal experimentation labs), and labs housing thousands of animals may be inspected in just one day. Furthermore, the USDA relies primarily on laboratories’ own Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) to enforce the AWA locally. IACUCs are composed mainly of animal experimenters, and they approve 98 percent of the projects that are proposed.
What does PETA do to animals?
It allows animals to be burned, shocked, poisoned, paralyzed, starved, cut into, brain-damaged, decapitated, and killed. However, PETA helps ensure that the modicum of protection afforded to animals by the AWA is implemented—and that violators are penalized.
What is the PETA paradigm?
PETA has published a paper highlighting some of the larger successes of the paradigm that it developed to encourage the adoption of novel, non-animal methods for vaccine testing and regularly corresponds with the CVB on vaccine issues as they relate to animal welfare.
Why is PETA on top of current technologies?
Because the CVB anticipates that not all antibodies will be easily produced using currently available non-animal approaches, PETA is staying on top of current technologies and continues to encourage the CVB to examine the most modern non-animal approaches for manufacturing specific antibodies.
Is PETA retiring lethal methods?
However, there have been some critical advances for a number of veterinary vaccines, and PETA has made tremendous efforts to ensure the greatest possible use of newer methods so that the lethal methods of the last century will be completely retired.
Does the AWA cover mice?
The AWA stipulates minimal standards for the treatment of animals in such facilities, but shockingly, it does not cover mice, rats, and birds , who make up approximately 95 percent of all animals used in laboratories. Moreover, the AWA does not prohibit any experiment, no matter how painful, trivial, or duplicative.
Can hamsters be used for leptospirosis?
The AWA states that the use of animals in experiments should be approved only when alternatives are not available, but some companies use thousands of hamsters for leptospirosis vaccine potency tests even though modern non-animal methods have been available from the CVB since 2006. When animals are used for leptospirosis vaccine tests, 40 hamsters are injected with the live bacteria that cause this disease. The experiments can last up to five weeks and cause hamsters to experience such painful conditions as blood poisoning and kidney damage before dying—all without pain relief.
Which agency regulates food production animals?
Neither of these two laws protects food production animals. USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) Regulates food safety and slaughter of food production animals. Ensures quality of the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products.
What is the government responsible for regulating factory farms?
Government Regulation of Factory Farms. The USDA is the primary federal agency charged with regulating animal food production and slaughter industries. Through sub-agency programs, the USDA oversees food production laws. However, there are no federal laws that set humane care standards for animals in factory farms.
What is the Humane Slaughter Act?
Humane Slaughter Act (HSA) – The HSA, also known as the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) and the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act (HMLSA), is designed to protect food animals just prior to and during their moment of slaughter.
How to improve the lives of animals in factory farms?
Adopt a plant-based diet. Write your legislators urging them to enact laws that improve the lives of animals in factory farms. Visit a farm sanctuary and get to know the different species of animals used in animal food production.
What is the APHIS?
USDA’S Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Administeris the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and the Animal Care Program (ACP) Performs wildlife damage management activities. These efforts support the overall mission of USDA, which is to protect and promote food, agriculture, natural resources, and related issues.
