NAICS 311615

Overview

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the federal standard for grouping business establishments to support the collection, analysis, and publication of U.S. economic statistics. Developed by the Economic Classification Policy Committee under the Office of Management and Budget and adopted in 1997, NAICS was created jointly with Statistics Canada and Mexico’s INEGI to ensure cross-country comparability. The current classification vintage is 2022. ¹
NAICS 311615 — Poultry Processing — covers establishments whose primary activities are slaughtering poultry and small game and/or preparing processed poultry and small game meats and byproducts. Federal programs, surveys, and acquisitions use this industry definition to align data and requirements to consistent production-process boundaries. ²

See also on G2X:

• NAICS 311615 overview
• NAICS 311611
• PSC 8905

What this NAICS covers

• Slaughtering poultry and small game for meat. ²
• Preparing processed poultry meats (e.g., further processing following slaughter). ²
• Preparing small-game meats within poultry processing establishments. ²
• Preparing poultry and small-game meat byproducts. ²
• Integrated operations that combine slaughtering with downstream poultry processing activities. ²

Related NAICS and PSC codes

Type	Code	Descriptor
NAICS	311611	Animal (except Poultry) Slaughtering
NAICS	311612	Meat Processed from Carcasses
PSC	8905	Meat, Poultry, and Fish

NAICS descriptors and cross-references are from the U.S. Census Bureau’s NAICS materials. ²
PSC descriptors are defined in the GSA Product and Service Code (PSC) Manual. ³

Industry boundaries and key exclusions

• Animal (non-poultry) slaughtering belongs in 311611; poultry and small game activities are in 311615. ²
• Processing meat (except poultry and small game) from purchased meats is in 311612. ²
• Rendering animal fats, bones, and meat scraps is in 311613. ²
• Canning poultry or small game for baby food is in 311422 (Specialty Canning). ²
• Drying, freezing, or breaking eggs is in 311999. ²
• Wholesaling poultry or meat is outside manufacturing; see merchant wholesalers such as 424440 (Poultry and Poultry Product Merchant Wholesalers) and 424470 (Meat and Meat Product Merchant Wholesalers). ⁶

Frequently asked questions

• What does NAICS 311615 include?
  Establishments primarily engaged in slaughtering poultry and small game and/or preparing processed poultry and small-game meats and byproducts. This boundary is production-process based and is used across federal economic statistics and acquisition categorization. ²

• How does 311615 differ from 311611 and 311612?
  311615 covers poultry and small game; 311611 covers animal (except poultry) slaughtering; 311612 covers processing meat (except poultry) from purchased meats. Each code is mutually exclusive by species and processing scope. ²

• Are egg products part of 311615?
  No. Drying, freezing, or breaking eggs is classified in 311999 (All Other Miscellaneous Food Manufacturing), not in poultry processing. ²

• Which PSC is commonly paired with poultry products in procurement?
  PSC 8905 (Meat, Poultry, and Fish) is used for subsistence commodities, including poultry items. Refer to the current GSA PSC Manual for definitions and scope. ³

• What is the current NAICS vintage used by federal economic programs?
  NAICS 2022 is the current vintage. Census programs began publishing detailed industry statistics using 2022 NAICS starting with 2022 Economic Census releases and are transitioning programs through 2027. ⁴

Useful resources

• G2X — NAICS 311615 overview
• Census NAICS industry materials for Animal Slaughtering and Processing (includes 311615). ²
• Census: Implementation of the 2022 NAICS (timeline and adoption details). ⁴
• GSA Product and Service Code (PSC) Manual. ³
• Census: Industry Reference Files — 2022 NAICS Descriptions (machine-readable definitions). ⁵

References

1. U.S. Census Bureau — Classifying Businesses (history of NAICS; OMB adoption and trilateral development). https://www.census.gov/about/history/historical-censuses-and-surveys/census-programs-surveys/economic/classifying-businesses.html
2. U.S. Census Bureau — NAICS Food Manufacturing materials (industry group 3116; includes 311615 Poultry Processing and cross-references). https://www.census.gov/naics/resources/archives/sect31-33.html
3. GSA — Product and Service Code Manual (current and archived editions). https://www.acquisition.gov/psc-manual
4. U.S. Census Bureau — Implementation of the 2022 NAICS (impacts and timeline). https://www.census.gov/library/reference/code-lists/naics/2022/implementation-timeline.html
5. U.S. Census Bureau — Industry Reference Files: 2022 NAICS Descriptions (2022–2023). https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/technical-documentation/reference/naics-descriptions.html
6. U.S. Census Bureau — Enterprise Statistics Program guidance: Wholesale Trade categories (includes 424440 and 424470). https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/esp/guidance/employer.html