[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 103 (Tuesday, May 29, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29075-29076]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-13387]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. 01-015N]
Science Based Reinspection of Imported Meat and Poultry Products
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing a
public meeting on June 8, 2001, to describe the Agency's plans for the
modernization of port-of-entry reinspection of meat and poultry food
products, including changes being made to the Automated Import
Information System (AIIS).
DATES: The public meeting will be held on June 8, 2001, from 8:30 a.m.
to 12:30 p.m. Preregistration is not necessary.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held in the Columbia Room,
Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street SW., Washington, DC 20024, telephone
(202) 479-4000. Transcripts of the meeting will be available in the
FSIS Docket Office, Room 102-Annex, 300 12th Street, SW., Washington,
DC 20250-3700. In addition to publishing this Federal Register notice,
before the meeting, FSIS will alert consumers, industry groups, and
foreign governments of the meeting through its FSIS Home Page at http://www.fsis.usda.gov, and the Constituent Updates and Alerts.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Karen Stuck, Acting Director,
International Policy Staff, Office of Policy, Program Development, and
Evaluation, telephone (202) 720-6400, or by FAX (202) 720-7990.
Individuals wishing to present a prepared statement will be given an
opportunity to speak at the end of the meeting. Oral statements will be
limited to 5 minutes, with an opportunity to submit a longer written
statement for the record. Any individual wishing to make a statement
should contact Ms. Anita Manka no later than noon on June 7, 2001, at
(202) 720-6400. In addition, there will be time allowed at the end of
the meeting for questions and answers. Attendees requiring sign-
language interpreters or other special accommodation should contact Ms.
Ida Gambrell, by June 1, 2001, at (202) 690-6523 or by FAX at (202)
690-6519.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The United States Department of Agriculture, through the Food
Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), ensures that domestic and
imported meat and poultry products are safe, wholesome, and accurately
labeled. In 2000, the United States imported 3.72 billion pounds of
meat and poultry from 31 countries.
The Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection
Act require foreign countries that export meat and poultry products to
the United States to establish and maintain inspection systems that are
equivalent to the U.S. inspection system. Countries must undergo a
rigorous review process before they can become eligible to export meat
or poultry products to the United States. The initial equivalence
determination includes, but is not limited to, an extensive document
and on-site review of the country's legislation, its command-and-
control infrastructure, inspector training, inspection procedures, and
laboratory analytical support services. Even after a country is granted
eligibility, FSIS periodically audits the foreign country's inspection
program to ensure that it remains equivalent to the U.S. system. As a
further check on the performance of the foreign country's inspection
system, FSIS reinspects products on a
[[Page 29076]]
sample basis as they enter the U.S., after they have already been
inspected and passed by the foreign country's equivalent inspection
system.
About 75 FSIS inspectors carry out reinspection at approximately
150 official import establishments located at land and water ports on
the perimeter of the country. All shipments of products are checked for
proper certification and general condition, and some shipments are
randomly selected for additional reinspection assignments as directed
by the Automated Import Information System (AIIS). The AIIS, which was
implemented in 1978, is a computer system that links all ports of
entry, makes inspection assignments, and collects compliance histories
for countries and plants. FSIS uses AIIS information in verifying and
evaluating the performance of the foreign country's inspection system.
FSIS import inspectors enter data about shipments, and the AIIS
identifies shipments for sampling and determines the appropriate
inspection assignment. Assignments can include product examination;
determination of condition of container; and microbiological, residue,
and food chemistry laboratory analysis.
The principle underlying FSIS import inspection activities is the
systems approach, which focuses on a foreign country's overall
inspection system rather than on individual establishments. The intent
of the current revision of the port-of-entry reinspection program is to
extend the systems approach to all port-of-entry activities.
For all countries except Canada, the monitoring assignments
directed by the AIIS are based on the compliance history of the foreign
plant for the specific product being imported. Since 1989, FSIS has
used a random sampling approach for shipments from Canada. For Canada,
the AIIS randomly selects shipments from the country, as a whole, for
monitoring sampling by FSIS. Once selected, a shipment is subject to
the full range of reinspection assignments applicable to the specific
product. By contrast, the shipments selected for reinspection from all
other countries are subject to one or more reinspection assignments
based on the compliance history of the plant.
FSIS plans to revise the port of entry reinspection program for
imported meat and poultry products by extending to all countries the
systems approach used to monitor Canada for more than 10 years. FSIS
plans to revise the reinspection system to: (1) Focus the sampling of
products at port of entry on monitoring a country's inspection system
rather than individual plants within the system; (2) reprogram the AIIS
to accommodate the new system and to provide better information for
making equivalency decisions; and (3) modify procedural and facility
requirements for import establishments to increase the responsibility
of the industry for control of imported meat and poultry. Some elements
could require rulemaking, and FSIS will use the public meeting to
explain current thinking on the subject.
Re-programming the AIIS is long overdue and will provide an
automated system better able to respond to inspection changes and to
provide timely reports on a country's performance to program managers.
FSIS estimates that the new system will be fully operational by the end
of 2001. Adoption of the systems approach for port-of-entry
reinspection of meat and poultry from all countries will facilitate the
collection of more statistically reliable data on a country's
performance. FSIS currently uses more than 300 product codes to
designate product categories for import reinspection. Changing the
entry of shipment data in the AIIS to processing categories already
established by FSIS in the HACCP regulations (9 CFR 417.2(b)(i)-(ix)),
e.g, raw product ground; raw product not ground; thermally processed-
commercially sterile; product not heat treated-shelf stable; and fully
cooked-not shelf stable, will streamline the system and make it more
compatible with HACCP rules. Using the domestic program's processing
category system will simplify entry, ensure consistency between
domestic and imported requirements, and provide a seamless system that
can be more easily used by all FSIS inspectors.
FSIS will not change the standards used to judge the acceptability
of meat and poultry products re-inspected at the port of entry. When
the shipment fails a reinspection, the exporting establishment will
continue to be subject to follow-up sampling, which is in addition to
the targeted monitoring levels for the exporting country.
FSIS believes that the modernization of the way it performs
reinspection of imported meat and poultry products is necessary to
fully utilize the systems approach and to strengthen the basis for
judging the continued equivalence of inspection systems maintained by
foreign countries exporting meat and poultry products to the U.S.
The Agency invites all interested parties to participate in the
June 8, 2001, public meeting to gain a better understanding of the
changes FSIS plans to make and to have the opportunity to request
clarification.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to better ensure
that minorities, women, and persons with disabilities are aware of this
notice, FSIS will announce it and provide copies of this Federal
Register publication in the FSIS Constituent Update. FSIS provides a
weekly FSIS Constituent Update, which is communicated via fax to over
300 organizations and individuals. In addition, the update is available
on-line through the FSIS web page located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov.
The update is used to provide information regarding FSIS policies,
procedures, regulations, Federal Register notices, FSIS public
meetings, recalls, and any other types of information that could affect
or would be of interest to our constituents/stakeholders. The
constituent fax list consists of industry, trade, and farm groups,
consumer interest groups, allied health professionals, scientific
professionals, and other individuals that have requested to be
included. Through these various channels, FSIS is able to provide
information to a much broader, more diverse audience. For more
information and to be added to the constituent fax list, fax your
request to the Congressional and Public Affairs Office, at (202) 720-
5704.
Done at Washington, DC on: May 23, 2001.
Thomas J. Billy,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 01-13387 Filed 5-25-01; 8:45 am]
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