Animal Agriculture Policy Review Panels

NIAA Animal Agriculture Policy Review Panels are the organization’s mission in practice and application. A win-win is created via the use of review panels.

First, animal agriculture policies are stronger after going through a “blind,” third-party subject-matter-expert review process. Policies developed ensure companies and organizations are doing their best for animals, humans, and our shared environments.

Second, company and organizational policies will be better accepted because of the review process.

Purpose

NIAA Animal Agriculture Policy Review Panels are convened upon request by NIAA members and stakeholders to review a specific organizational policy.

NIAA’s role is not to:

Create topic or issue-specific policy;
Require what changes should or should not be made to a policy;
Approve or endorse policies.

NIAA’s role is to:

Determine if the policy follows the latest scientific research;
Assess if the policy encourages continuous improvement;
Review the policy for practical application;
Evaluate if the policy is balanced to allow for species, regional, cultural, and other differences in production practices and models; and,
Offer feedback and counsel that the organization can implement into the policy if they so choose.

NIAA Members:
$5,000 per review

Non Members:
$7,500 per review

Why is NIAA offering this service?

Food system organizations increasingly face questions and concerns about animal agriculture. From animal welfare to environmental stewardship and antimicrobial use to feed ingredients, a variety of topics and issues are front-of-mind for all involved in the production, processing, and promotion of meat, milk, eggs, seafood, and fiber.

As individuals and organizations continuously improve animal agriculture within today’s food system, policies are often adopted by purchasers of livestock and/or livestock products. Policies are often developed on specific topics/issues by internal organizational staff and consulting subject matter experts (SMEs). The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) has served as a resource via NIAA Councils’ work and a convener for food system participants to collectively explore, discuss, and learn about specific topics and issues.

As more organizations adopt animal agriculture-specific policies, NIAA has been asked to provide counsel and feedback on specific policies. NIAA stakeholders feel an NIAA review can be a third-party assessment of a specific policy that lends credibility to the specific policy.

About

Upon request, NIAA convenes a three (3) to five (5) member panel to review an organization’s proposed animal agriculture policy. Panel members will be randomly selected via NIAA Councils. Panel members will possess the necessary educational and practical experiences necessary to be qualified as a subject matter expert within the policy’s area of focus.

The panel will be provided with the proposed policy with no identifying language as to the company or organization who drafted the policy nor the authors of the policy. This is to minimize bias.

Feedback from the panel will be aggregated by NIAA staff along with review panel credentials into an NIAA Animal Agriculture Policy Review Panel report. While the report is considered confidential, it may be shared by the company or organization who requested the review of their policy if they choose. NIAA will not share review panel reports.

Timeline

Subject matter experts selected to form a review panel are provided an honorarium for their time and expertise of $500 per review.

NIAA Animal Agriculture Policy Review Panels are on a six-to-eight week turnaround time for all policy reviews.

Contact Us

For more information please contact J.J. Jones regarding the NIAA Policy Review Panels.