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 renew an information collection concerning its Web-based Public Health Information System (PHIS). There are no changes to the existing information collection except a revision to remove the FSIS Form 9540-1 for the import of meat and poultry products. This will result in a reduction in burden of 5,034 hours. The information collection burden incurred by FSIS Form 9540-1 will be covered under the Electronic Import Inspection information collection (0583-0127).

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending the poultry products inspection regulations to establish a new inspection system for young chicken and all turkey slaughter establishments. Young chicken and turkey slaughter establishments that do not choose to operate under the new poultry inspection system may continue to operate under their current inspection system. The Agency is also making several changes to the regulations that will affect all establishments that slaughter poultry other than ratites. This final rule is a result of the Agency's 2011 regulatory review efforts conducted under Executive Order 13563 on Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is sponsoring a public meeting on September 25, 2014. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States (U.S.) positions to be discussed at the 21st Session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), taking place in Australia, October 13-17, 2014. The Under Secretary for Food Safety recognizes the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 21st Session of the CCFICS and to address items on the agenda.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing that it will implement new traceback procedures when FSIS or another Federal or State agency finds raw ground beef or bench trim presumptive positive for Escherichia coli O157:H7. FSIS is also announcing that it will begin requesting an establishment to recall product if an establishment was the sole supplier of beef manufacturing trimmings source materials for ground beef product that FSIS or another Federal or State agency finds positive for E. coli O157:H7, evidence suggests that the contamination most likely occurred at the supplier establishment, and a portion of the product from the originating source lot produced by the supplier establishment was sent to other establishments. FSIS is also clarifying circumstances when the Agency will ask suppliers of product used in bench trim to recall the product. FSIS is also announcing the availability of updated guidance documents. Finally, FSIS is responding to comments on the May 7, 2012, Federal Register notice, ``Changes to FSIS Traceback, Recall Procedures for Escherichia coli O157:H7 Positive Raw Beef Product, and Availability of final Compliance Guidelines''.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), are sponsoring a public meeting on August 12, 2014. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States positions to be discussed at the 27th Session of the Codex Committee on Processed Fruits and Vegetables (CCPFV) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), taking place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from September 8- 12, 2014. The Under Secretary for Food Safety and the Agricultural Marketing Service recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 27th Session of CCPFV and to address items on the agenda.

This notice informs the public of the sanitary and phytosanitary standard-setting activities of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), in accordance with section 491 of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, as amended, and the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. This notice also provides a list of other standard-setting activities of Codex, including commodity standards, guidelines, codes of practice, and revised texts. This notice, which covers the time periods from June 1, 2013, to May 31, 2014, and June 1, 2014, to May 31, 2015, seeks comments on standards under consideration and recommendations for new standards.

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 request a new information collection for a food safety education campaign.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is responding to comments on an August 28, 2013, Federal Register document, ``Changes to Salmonella Verification Sampling Program: Analysis of Raw Beef for Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli and Salmonella'' and announcing its plans to begin analyzing for Salmonella all beef product it analyzes for Shiga toxin- producing Escherichia coli (STEC). After reviewing the comments received on the August 2013 document, FSIS is affirming the plans for addressing Salmonella in raw beef products that it announced in that document and will proceed with implementing those plans.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is soliciting nominations for membership on the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI). The full Committee consists of not more than 20 members, and each person selected is expected to serve a 2-year term.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend its regulations to change the fees it charges for the accreditation and the maintenance of accreditation of non-Federal laboratories for the FSIS Accredited Lab Program (ALP). Currently, the Agency charges a flat annual fee of $5,000 for each accreditation or maintenance of accreditation. Laboratories that participate in FSIS' ALP can receive accreditation in one to six analyte classes. FSIS is proposing to charge laboratories $5,000 per year for the first analyte class accreditation or maintenance (as it currently does), but to reduce the charges to $2,900 per year for the second, and $2,100 per year for each additional analyte class accreditation or maintenance of accreditation.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing the availability of guidance on allergens and other ingredients of public health concern that provides recommendations for identifying hazards when conducting a hazard analysis and to prevent and control hazards through hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) plans or Sanitation standard operating procedures (SOPs) or other prerequisite programs with respect to these substances. The emphasis of the guidelines is on meat and poultry products. The guidelines represent the best practice recommendations of FSIS, based on scientific and practical considerations. By following these guidelines, establishments are likely to ensure that product labels declare all ingredients, as required in the regulations, and that the product does not contain undeclared allergens or other undeclared ingredients.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is responding to comments on a Federal Register notice, ``HACCP Plan Reassessment for Not-Ready-to-Eat (NRTE) Comminuted Poultry Products and Related Agency Verification Procedures,'' that it published on December 6, 2012. The notice provided updated information on the Agency's sampling and testing of these products, and on how it is verifying that establishments are effectively addressing the possible presence of Salmonella and Campylobacter in them.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are sponsoring a public meeting to take place on April 10, 2014. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States positions that will be discussed at the 46th Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will take place in China from May 5-10, 2014. The Under Secretary for Food Safety and the EPA recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 46th session of CCPR and to address items on the agenda.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is discontinuing the use of its 30-mL qualitative analysis for Campylobacter for young chickens. The Agency suspended this analysis on June 3, 2013. FSIS evaluated the available Campylobacter data, and its analysis suggested that the performance standard based on an analysis of the 1-mL sample volume is sufficiently sensitive to identify establishments whose process control is substandard. This is the only change that FSIS has made to its Campylobacter sampling program.

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 an extension of an 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 because the OMB approval will expire on April 30, 2014.

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 an extension of an approved information collection regarding the regulatory requirements associated with the production of meat from Advanced Meat Recovery systems because the OMB approval will expire on March 31, 2014.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), are sponsoring a public meeting to take place on January 30, 2014. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States positions that will be discussed at the 18th Session of the Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (CCFFV) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), taking place in Bangkok, Thailand, from February 24-28, 2014. The Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety and AMS recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 18th Session of CCFFV and to address items on the agenda.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is sponsoring a public meeting that will take place on January 23, 2014. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States positions that will be discussed at the first session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), taking place in Kochi (Cochin), India, February 11-14, 2014. The Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety recognizes the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 1st Session of CCSCH and to address items on the agenda.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing the 2014 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 2014 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 February 9, 2014.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing a meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI). The Committee is being convened to review two topics for FSIS. The first topic will address safe handling instructions included on food labels. FSIS is seeking input from the committee to fully explore enhancing the safe food handling label on meat and poultry packages. With this input, the Agency will consider whether or not the current safe handling instructions should be changed to meet the needs of the consuming public; FSIS is also seeking feedback from NACMPI on FSIS's Establishment-Specific Data Release Strategic Plan. The plan was developed from recommendations by the NACMPI committee in 2010. FSIS would like the committee to review the strategic plan and provide further suggestions.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, this notice announces the Food Safety and Inspection Service's (FSIS) intention to request a revision of a currently approved information collection regarding the procedures for notifying the Agency about new technology because the OMB approval will expire on January 31, 2014, and because FSIS has revised its total annual burden estimate in light of the latest available data.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending the meat and poultry products inspection regulations to expand the circumstances in which FSIS will generically approve the labels of meat and poultry products. The Agency also is consolidating the regulations that provide for the approval of labels for meat products and poultry products into a new Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part.

The Accredited Laboratory Program is the FSIS program in which non-Federal laboratories are accredited as eligible to perform analyses on official regulatory samples of raw or processed meat and poultry products, and through which a check sample program for quality assurance is conducted. The program is funded by user fees. The current fee regulation is due to expire at the end of the present fiscal year. In order to provide time to develop a proposed rule that will establish a formula for determining the fee, FSIS is extending the current laboratory accreditation fee.

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 an extension of a previously approved information collection concerning industry responses to noncompliance records. There are no changes to the existing information collection.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing changes to its procedures for Salmonella verification sampling program of raw beef products. On the date that FSIS will announce in the Federal Register document that responds to any comments on this document, FSIS will discontinue Salmonella sampling set procedures (``HC01'') in ground beef products, except in establishments with results that exceeded the standard for Salmonella in that establishment's most recently completed sample set (i.e., in those establishments in Category 3). At the same time, FSIS will begin analyzing for Salmonella all raw beef samples that it collects for Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) analysis. Therefore, FSIS will begin analyzing for Salmonella all samples of raw ground beef, beef manufacturing trimmings, bench trim, and other raw ground beef components that it collects for STEC testing. To be consistent with the Agency's STEC analytic sample portions, FSIS laboratories will increase the raw ground beef analytic sample portion for Salmonella analysis from 25 grams to 325 grams. This notice describes how FSIS intends to use the results from its verification sampling program to develop new Salmonella performance standards for ground beef product and to estimate Salmonella prevalence in raw ground beef and beef manufacturing trimmings products. Finally, this document discusses changes that the Agency is considering related to FSIS Salmonella sampling and testing of other products.