. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/USA/844 
23 January 2004 
 (04-0221) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
NOTIFICATION  
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   UNITED STATES
 
If applicable, name of local government involved: 
2. Agency responsible:   US Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numbe r(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Beef cattle intended for slau ghter and use as human food 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:  All 
trading partners 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:   Prohibition of the Use of 
Specified Risk Materials for Human Food a nd Requirements for the Disposition of Non-
Ambulatory Disabled Cattle:  Interim Final Rule (Docket No. 03-025IF) (Available in 
English, 76 pages) 
6. Description of content:  The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is amending the 
Federal meat inspection regulations to designate  the brain, skull, eyes, trigeminal ganglia, 
spinal cord, vertebral column (excluding the vert ebrae of the tail, the transverse processes of 
the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, and the wi ngs of the sacrum), and dorsal root ganglia 
(DRG) of cattle 30 months of age and older, and the tonsils and distal ileum of the small 
intestine (the entire small intestine must be disc arded as inedible to effectively ensure that the 
distal ileum is discarded) of all cattle, as "specified risk materials" (SRMs).  The Agency is declaring that SRMs are inedible and prohib iting their use for human food. The Agency is 
requiring that Federally inspecte d establishments that slaught er cattle and/or process the 
carcasses or parts of cattle develop, implement, and maintain written procedures for the 
removal, segregation, and disposition of SRMs .  Establishments must incorporate these 
procedures into their HACCP plans or in th eir Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures 
(Sanitation SOPs) or other prere quisite program.  In addition, FSIS is requiring that all non-
ambulatory disabled cattle presented for sl aughter be condemned.  Condemning all non-
ambulatory, disabled cattle will ensure that materials that could present a risk to human 
health, but whose infectivity status cannot be readily ascertained, are excluded from the 
human food supply.   FSIS has de fined "non-ambulatory disabled cattle" as cattle that cannot 
rise from a recumbent position or that cannot wa lk, including, but not limited to, those with 
broken appendages, severed tendons or ligaments, nerve paralysis,  fractured vertebral column 
or metabolic conditions.  Exporting countries wi ll be required to adopt these or equivalent 
measures when producing beef products in esta blishments certified for export to the United 
States.  FSIS is taking this ac tion in response to the diagnos is on 23 December 2003, by the 
US Department of Agriculture of a positiv e case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy 
(BSE) in an adult Holstein cow in Washington State.  This action will minimize human exposure to materials that scie ntific studies have demonstrat ed contain the BSE agent in 
cattle infected with the disease.  Infectivity ha s never been demonstrated  in the muscle tissue 
of cattle experimentally or naturally infected with BSE at any stage of the disease. G/SPS/N/USA/844 
Page 2  
 
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health, [   ] plant protection, 
[ X ] protect humans from anima l/plant pest or disease,  [   ]  protect territory from 
other damage from pests 
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [ X ] World Organization for Animal Health, 
[   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [   ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:  OIE/TAHC Chapter 2.3.13 
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Accessible for 
comment at:  http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FRPubs/03-025IF.htm  
10. Proposed date of adoption:   12 January 2004 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:   12 January 2004 
12. Final date for comments:  12 April 2004 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:   Address comments to:  FSIS Docket Clerk, Docket 03-025IF, 
Room 102 Cotton Annex, 300 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C.  20250-3700, United 
States 
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notification authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail add ress (if available) of other body:  Ms. Julie 
Morin, US Department of Agriculture, Stop 1027, Washington, DC  20250.  Tel:  (202) 
720-4051, Fax:  (202) 690-0677, E-mail:  julie.morin@fas.usda.gov