. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/N/USA/688
22 January 2003
(03-0359)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
NOTIFICATION
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   UNITED STATES
If applicable, name of local government involved:
2. Agency responsible:   United States Depart ment of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection
Service
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where
applicable):  ):  Raw, single ingredient meat and poultry carcasses
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:   A l l
trading partners
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Retained Water in Raw
Meat and Poultry Products; Poultry Chilli ng Requirements:  Final Rule (Docket
No. 97-054F)(46 pages)
6. Description of content:   The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing
regulations to limit the amount of water retained by raw, single-ingredient, meat and poultry
products as a result of post-evisceration processing, such as carcass washing and chilling.
Raw livestock and poultry carcasses and parts will not be permitted to retain water resultingfrom post-evisceration processing unless the establishment preparing those carcasses and
parts demonstrates to FSIS, with data collected in accordance with a written protocol, that
any water retained in the carcasses and parts is  an inevitable consequence of the process used
to meet applicable food safety requirements.  In addition, the establishment will be required
to disclose on the labeling of the meat or poultry products the maximum percentage ofretained water in the raw product.  The requir ed labeling statement will help consumers of
raw meat and poultry products to make info rmed purchasing decisions.  Establishments
having data demonstrating that there is no retained water in their products can choose not to
label the products with the retained-water stat ement or to make a no-retained-water claim on
the product label.  FSIS is also revising the poultry chilling regulations to improveconsistency with the Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
(PR/HACCP) regulations, eliminate “command-an d-control” features, and reflect current
technological capabilities and good manufacturing practices.
7. Objective and rationale:  [  X ] food safety, [   ] animal health, [   ] plant protection,
[   ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ]  protect territory from other
damage from pestsG/SPS/N/USA/688
Page 2
8. International standard, gu ideline or recommendation:
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] Office International des Epizooties,
[   ] International Plant Prot ection Convention, [ X ] None
If an international standard , guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate
reference and briefly identify deviations:
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Available in English
at:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oppde/rdad/FRPubs/97-054F.html
with corrected references at:http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oppde/rdad/FRPubs/97-054FC.html
10. Proposed date of adoption:  9 January 2003
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  9 January  2003
12. Final date for comments:   N/A – final rule.
Agency or authority designated to handl e comments:  [ X ] National notification
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if
available) of other body:
Submit comments to:  Docket Clerk, USDA/FSIS, Rm. 102, 300 12th Street, S.W.,
Washington, D.C.  20250-3700.  Please reference docket number 97-054F.
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notification authority,  [ X ] National enquiry point,
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:
Mr. Bill Janis
US Department of Agriculture
Stop 1027Washington DC 20250
Tel:  202 720 9047
Fax:  202 720 0677
E-mail: fstsd@fas.usda.gov