WASHINGTON — The Meat Institute released a guidance document to help meat and poultry processors avoid child labor and identity fraud.

The “Meat and Poultry Industry Best Practices: Workforce Age Verification” guidance is the result of education programming performed by the institute to educate member companies to improve age and identity verification.

“The members of the Meat Institute are universally aligned that meat and poultry production facilities are no place for children,” said Julie Anna Potts, president and chief executive officer of the Meat Institute. “These best practices were developed to help prevent child labor given the record influx of undocumented minors occurring in tandem with the increasing prevalence and sophistication of identity theft and fraud.”

The Meat Institute’s education programming has included outside experts and counsel to speak on false identification, trafficking, lessons learned from companies charged with violating child labor laws, new programs and technology to detect identity fraud and more. Then, the Meat Institute gathered field tested best practices and provided the processing industry with a framework for members to further develop their own programs.

The document includes suggestions for corporate codes of conduct, expectations for third-party contractors, enhanced training, audits, technological solutions and immediate responses to suspicions of child labor violations.

“We have shared these best practices with both the Department of Labor and the Department of Agriculture,” Potts said. “We know existing government programs are not enough to solve this problem, and we stand ready to work with the federal government to develop effective programs, and, where appropriate, penalties, to make sure underage workers are not a part of our workforce.”