Food Safety and Inspection Service – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to request renewal of the approved information collection regarding the procedures for notifying the Agency about new technology and requests for waivers. There are no changes to the existing information collection. The approval for this information collection will expire on May 31, 2020.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to create a new information collection regarding the voluntary destruction of imported meat, poultry, and egg products. This is a new information collection with an estimated burden of 17,818 hours.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to request renewal of the approved information collection regarding nutrition labeling of the major cuts of single-ingredient raw meat or poultry products and ground or chopped meat and poultry products. There are no changes to the existing information collection. The approval for this information collection will expire on May 31, 2020.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing the availability of an updated version of its guideline on how establishments can make label claims concerning the fact that bioengineered or genetically-modified (GM) ingredients or animal feed were not used in the production of meat, poultry, or egg products. For purposes of this guidance document, these claims are referred to as ``negative claims.'' The updated document reflects changes made in response to comments received after announcement of the guideline in an August 2016 Federal Register notice.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to create a new information collection to survey small and very small meat processing plants about a draft report concerning FSIS resources available to help them achieve and maintain regulatory compliance. This is a new information collection with an estimated burden of 375 hours.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing the 2020 rates it will charge meat and poultry establishments, egg products plants, and importers and exporters for providing voluntary, overtime, and holiday inspection and identification, certification, and laboratory services. The 2020 basetime, overtime, holiday, and laboratory services rates will be applied on January 5, 2020.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending the Federal poultry products inspection regulations to add the People's Republic of China (PRC) as eligible to export to the United States poultry products from birds slaughtered in the PRC. FSIS has reviewed the PRC's poultry laws, regulations, and inspection system, as implemented, and has determined that they are equivalent to the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA), the regulations implementing this statute, and the United States' food safety system for poultry. Under this final rule, slaughtered poultry, or parts or other products thereof, processed in certified PRC establishments, are eligible for export to the United States. All such products are subject to reinspection at United States ports of entry by FSIS inspectors.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending the Siluriformes fish inspection regulations to list the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) as a country eligible to export Siluriformes fish and fish products to the United States. FSIS has reviewed Vietnam's laws, regulations, and inspection system as implemented and has determined that Vietnam's Siluriformes fish inspection system is equivalent to the system that the United States has established under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) and its implementing regulations. Under this final rule, only raw Siluriformes fish and fish products produced in certified Vietnamese establishments are eligible for export to the United States. All such products are subject to re- inspection at U.S. points-of-entry by FSIS inspectors.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing and requesting comment on new pathogen reduction performance standards for Salmonella in raw ground beef and beef manufacturing trimmings. The Agency is also announcing how it plans to assess whether establishments producing raw ground beef and/or beef manufacturing trimmings are effectively addressing Salmonella, using a 52-week moving window of FSIS sampling results and other related verification activities. Approximately one year (52 weeks) after the new standards are made final, the Agency plans to post individual establishment performance as either ``meeting'' or ``not meeting'' the pathogen reduction performance standard on the FSIS website, based on the most recent 48 Salmonella sample results. Finally, FSIS is also announcing that it intends to increase Salmonella sampling to once per week in beef establishments that produce greater than 50,000 pounds of raw ground beef and beef manufacturing trimmings per day, so that a sufficient number of Salmonella samples (i.e., 48) are collected to assess these establishments' performance against the new Salmonella performance standards. Note that FSIS will continue to analyze these beef manufacturing trimmings samples for Escherichia coli O517:H7 and applicable non-O157 Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC); FSIS will continue to analyze these ground beef samples for E. coli O157:H7. Although unlikely with this change, if fewer than 48 samples are collected or analyzed in a 52-week window at an establishment, its status would be reported as ``N/A,'' provided the establishment has two or fewer Salmonella positives in that window. FSIS will consider comments received on this notice before announcing the final performance standards in the Federal Register and assessing whether establishments meet them.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending the Federal meat inspection regulations to establish an optional new inspection system for market hog slaughter establishments that has been demonstrated to provide public health protection at least equivalent to the existing inspection system. Market hog slaughter establishments that do not choose to operate under the new swine inspection system may continue to operate under their existing inspection system. The Agency is also making several changes to the regulations that will affect all establishments that slaughter swine, regardless of the inspection system under which they operate or the age, size, or class of swine. These changes will allow all swine slaughter establishments to develop sampling plans that are more tailored to their specific operations, and thus more effective in monitoring their specific process control, unlike the current requirements in the regulations.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to revise the approved information collection regarding import inspection applications. The approval for this information collection will expire on October 31, 2020. FSIS is updating this collection, based on new information about burden, and adding a new application for the return of exported products to the United States. The Agency has increased the burden estimate by 21,932 hours due to updated information and the addition of this form.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing and requesting comments on revised pathogen reduction performance standards for Campylobacter in not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) comminuted chicken and turkey products based on a microbiological method change from direct- plating to enrichment. The Agency is taking this step because the enrichment method more effectively recovers Campylobacter in contaminated poultry samples as compared to the direct-plating method. FSIS will consider comments received on this notice before announcing the final standards in the Federal Register and assessing whether establishments are meeting the standards. After collecting sufficient data, FSIS plans to propose and request comments on revised pathogen reduction performance standards for Campylobacter in young chicken and turkey carcasses and in raw chicken parts, also based on the enrichment method.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing the availability of the Agency's guideline on kit products that contain a meat or poultry component. The guideline is designed to help establishments and other food handling facilities determine whether a kit product needs to be prepared under FSIS inspection and how a kit product needs to be labeled.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to renew the approved information collection regarding industry responses to noncompliance records. The approval for this information collection will expire on November 30, 2019. FSIS is making no changes to the existing information collection.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to collect information from applicants that want to obtain specimens of condemned or other inedible materials from official establishments. This is a new information collection with an estimated burden of 274 hours.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to renew the approved information collection regarding the accredited laboratory contact update form. The approval for this information collection will expire on November 30, 2019. FSIS is making no changes to the existing information collection.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to revise the approved information collection for the FSIS Public Health Information System (PHIS) so that FSIS can make periodic updates to the numbering system on the Meat and Poultry Export Certificate of Wholesomeness (FSIS Form 9060-5). The approval for this information collection will expire on January 31, 2021. FSIS is making no changes to the burden estimate.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to remove lists of foreign countries eligible to export meat, poultry, and egg products to the United States from its regulations and, instead, utilize lists posted on FSIS' website. A reference to the web address would be included in FSIS' regulations. This change would allow FSIS to more efficiently provide the public with more accurate and up-to-date information. The criteria FSIS uses to evaluate whether a foreign country is eligible to export meat, poultry, or egg products would remain in the regulations and would not change. FSIS would continue to provide an opportunity for public comment when proposing to list new countries as eligible to export these products to the United States.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending the Federal poultry products inspection regulations to add Honduras to the list of countries eligible to export poultry products to the United States. The FSIS review of Honduras' laws, regulations, and inspection system demonstrated that its poultry slaughter inspection system is equivalent to the system FSIS has established under the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) and its implementing regulations.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to revise the approved information collection regarding the importation of undenatured inedible meat and egg products into the United States. The approval for this information collection will expire on September 30, 2019. FSIS is adding to this collection a form for samples taken for laboratory examination, research, evaluative testing, or trade show exhibition. The Agency has increased the burden estimate by 23,263 hours due to updated information and the addition of this form.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to collect information in the form of an exploratory Web-based survey of consumers to evaluate food safety education and communication activities and to inform the development of food safety communication products.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing the availability of and requesting comments on a guideline to assist the meat and poultry industry develop written programs for responding to consumer complaints about adulterated or misbranded meat and poultry products. FSIS developed this guideline in response to an increase in the number of recalls of meat and poultry products contaminated with foreign materials.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing the 2019 rates it will charge meat and poultry establishments, egg products plants, and importers and exporters for providing voluntary, overtime, and holiday inspection and identification, certification, and laboratory services. The 2019 basetime, overtime, holiday, and laboratory services rates will be applied on the first FSIS pay period approximately 30 days after the publication of this notice, which begins on January 20, 2019.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing and requesting comments on revised categorization and follow-up sampling procedures relative to pathogen reduction performance standards. FSIS will proceed with web-posting individual establishments' category status for pathogen reduction performance standards for Salmonella in raw chicken parts and not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) comminuted chicken and turkey, as previously announced, and updating individual poultry carcass establishments' category status in November. However, the category status reported will be based on FSIS sample results during the 52-week window ending the last Saturday of the previous month, rather than on results during the last 13 completed 52-week windows. At the same time, FSIS will no longer include follow- up sampling results as part of the moving window when determining establishment category status. Finally, FSIS will update the individual establishments' category status on its website on a monthly basis and will maintain the last six months of historical establishment-specific categorization data on the website, as it becomes available, using the revised categorization procedures announced in this notice. FSIS intends to use the revised categorization procedures for all establishments subject to a pathogen reduction performance standard for Salmonella or Campylobacter, including beef and pork establishments, in the future. FSIS will announce any expanded use of the revised procedures in the Federal Register and will request public comment. FSIS will proceed with implementing the changes on the date announced in this notice. However, FSIS is seeking comments on the changes as part of its effort to continuously assess and improve the effectiveness of Agency policy.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is soliciting nominations for membership for the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI). The full Committee consists of 20 members, and each person selected is expected to serve a 2-year term. There are 15 available positions.