The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a Federal statute that allows any person the right to obtain Federal agency records unless the records (or a part of the records) are protected from disclosure by any of the nine exemptions contained in the law. On October 2, 1996, the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996 (E-FOIA) were signed into law. E-FOIA makes it possible for individuals to have electronic access to certain USDA information without having to make formal FOIA requests.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the public health regulatory agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) responsible for ensuring that the nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged, as required by the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act. For instructions on submitting FOIA requests to other government agencies, please consult their websites or contact their FOIA offices.

• FOIA Points of Contact for Other USDA Agencies

To Make a FOIA Request

The FSIS FOIA office fulfills requests from its Washington, DC offices. Follow these instructions to request information from FSIS.

Key FOIA Links

• FSIS Electronic Reading Room
• Records Frequently Requested/Of Interest
• Monthly Reports of Requests Submitted to FSIS
• USDA FOIA Regulations | PDF

To Contact Us or Provide Feedback

FSIS Freedom of Information Act Office
Room 1170-South Building
14th and Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250-3700
Phone: (202) 720-2109
Fax: (202) 690-3023
E-mail: fsis.foia@usda.gov

The FSIS Freedom of Information Act office is dedicated to processing FOIA requests in an efficient and effective manner. Please e-mail us at fsis.foia@usda.gov to provide feedback on your experience as well as suggestions for improvements.