Abstract

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Process Verified Program (PVP) provides suppliers of agriculture products and services with a voluntary, independent verification program based on ISO 9001:2000. With recent concerns on traceability involving a variety of food staples, the PVP is proving a valuable marketing tool for egg, poultry, pork, and beef producers. By using the PVP, exporters, processors, suppliers, and buyers have a method to assure their customers that procedures and processes designed to meet specific standards are verified by USDA auditors and are consistent on a continual basis. To earn PVP approval, an agricultural business must pass an independent third-party audit of its quality management system; the business then earns the right to market its approved process as “USDA Process Verified.”