Security Plan, USDA

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), through its Uniform Grain and Rice Storage Agreement (UGRSA), requires all operators of facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food for human or animal consumption, as defined broadly in the regulation, to develop and implement a written security plan which addresses:

1. General security of the physical facility and grounds;
2. Shipping and receiving procedures;
3. Actions to be taken in the event of a national emergency; and
4. Emergency contact information for local security authorities.

USDA does not intend to specify minimum standards for what should be included in a UGRSA warehouse’s facility security plan. Instead, they intend to provide flexibility for the warehouse operator to make a “good-faith effort” to address the requirements. It is important when developing or modifying a facility security plan to select those procedures that are effective, practical and realistic for the type and characteristics of the facility for which they are intended, as well as the physical surroundings in which the plant operates. There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach when it comes to facility security and the facility vulnerability assessment is useful in identifying facility-security steps that may be warranted for individual situations.