Supplement 509 Alaska Pollock

The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has issued Supplement 509 for Alaska Pollock under Solicitation Number 12-3J14-Notice-26-016, effective June 2026, with a response deadline of January 1, 2027. This document governs the procurement of once-frozen, skinless, boneless, additive-free Alaska Pollock fillet blocks intended for further processing into breaded or battered seafood products under the Domestic Commodity Procurement program. Contractors must supply product in standardized packaging—16.5-pound blocks wrapped in paperboard liners and packed three per master carton totaling 49.5 pounds—with strict requirements for case closure, palletization, and compliance with NMFC or UFC freight standards. Product must be maintained at or below 0°F at all stages from processing through delivery, with a maximum frozen storage period of 12 months and an internal temperature requirement of –17.8°C achieved within 24 hours of packaging. All shipments require recording of truck seal numbers on the Bill of Lading, and product temperature at loading must be documented on the contractor’s checkloading paperwork. Compliance with USDA, FDA, and NOAA SIP standards is mandatory, including adherence to FALCPA and the FASTER Act for allergen labeling, with mandatory disclosure of milk, egg, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soy, and sesame. Labels on both primary packages and shipping cases must include product name, manufacturer details, traceability codes with lot and production dates, nutrition facts, cooking instructions, safe handling notices, and the official USDA Shield (minimum 2 inches high). Contractors must provide written proof of an approved USDC Product Management Plan to certify grade compliance and ensure lot-by-lot audit-based grading. Metal detection validation must include testing with all three metals during each interval, and the use of “supplier” has been replaced with “contractor” throughout. Documentation revisions include changing “Master Solicitation” to “Master Invitation for Bids – Domestic Commodity Procurement,” updating “delivery date” to “shipping date” on the Certificate of Conformance, and requiring verification of raw material compliance with Fish Flesh requirements. Inspection occurs primarily at origin with final acceptance at destination, and all non-conforming product must be segregated and disposed of properly. Submissions must be sent via email in Microsoft Word format to designated USDA addresses, with no PDFs permitted, and no formal pricing details or evaluation factor weights are included in