Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack sent a letter to members of the meat and poultry industry regarding use of child labor in meat processing facilities and requested that the industries take precautionary steps to determine whether child labor is being used anywhere in the supply chain, include strong contractual language authorizing unannounced inspections and sanctions, and to adopt standards for suppliers, subcontractors, and vendors that will “better guard against the use of illegal child labor.” The letter also advises recipients that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will implement “increased oversight to curb this recent trend as quickly as possible.”