Review of Agricultural Economics—Volume 29, Number 3—Pages 596–611 Did the Pathogen Reduction and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points Regulation Cause Slaughter Plants to Exit?

Our multiperiod analysis tested whether the 1996 Pathogen Reduction and Hazard Anal-ysis and Critical Control Points food safety regulation affected the probability of slaughter plant exit. We estimated probit models using pooled plant-level datasets for the preimple-mentation, implementation, and postimplementation periods. Results suggest that very small and small meat slaughter plants were more likely to exit during implementation than during preimplementation but less likely after implementation. In contrast, the re-sults suggest the regulation had little effect on the probability of very small and small poultry slaughter plant exit during implementation but may have affected the probability of exit postimplementation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and InspectionService (FSIS) promulgated the 1996 Pathogen Reduction and Hazard Anal-ysis and Critical Control Points (PR/HACCP) regulation to ensure safer meat and poultry products for consumers. HACCP requires plants to conduct a hazard analysis to identify potential food safety hazards and to develop and implement a plan for monitoring and controlling these hazards. As part of the regulatory development process, FSIS analyzed the economic effects of the regulations on the meat and poultry industry (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 1996). It also analyzed the effects of the rule on small busi