G/SPS /N/USA/3318/Add.1  
21 August 2023  
(23-5609) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
Addendum  
The following communication, received on 18 August 2023, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of  the United States of America . 
 
_______________  
 
 
Condemnation of Poultry Carcasses Affected with Any of the Forms of Avian Leukosis Complex: 
Rescission (Final Rule)  
On 14 March 2022, the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) 
proposed to amend the US poultry products inspection regulations to rescind several regulations 
related to the inspection and condemnation of poultry carcasses affected with any of the forms of 
avian leukosis (87 FR 14182). FSIS proposed these changes in response to a petition, which requested 
that the Agency amend its regulations to desi gnate avian leukosis as a trimmable condition rather 
than a condition that requires condemnation of the entire carcass. The petition also requested that 
FSIS rescind the regulations at 9 CFR 381.36(f)(3) that require young chicken establishments in the 
United States operating under the New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS) to provide a location at a 
point along the production line to permit an FSIS inspector to inspect for leukosis the first 
300 carcasses of each flock, together with their corresponding visc era. In addition, the petition 
requested that FSIS rescind the regulations at 9 CFR 381.76(b)(6)(iv) that prescribe the 300 -bird 
leukosis inspection procedure under the NPIS. The petition asserted that the current US regulations 
related to leukosis are bas ed on an outdated understanding of this poultry disease, impose 
unnecessary costs on US industry, and present a potential barrier to young chicken establishments 
in the United States that may want to convert to NPIS.  
As FSIS explained in the proposed rule,  the Agency evaluated the available scientific information on 
avian leukosis and concluded that there was scientific support for treating avian leukosis as a 
trimmable condition under 9 CFR 381.87 in all US poultry establishments operating under FSIS' 
mand atory and voluntary inspection.  
Therefore, after carefully considering comments submitted on the proposed rule, FSIS is finalizing 
the proposal with no changes. Accordingly, FSIS is rescinding the regulation (9 CFR 381.82) that 
requires condemnation of all  poultry carcasses affected with any of the forms of avian leukosis. FSIS  is 
also rescinding the regulation (9 CFR 381.36(f)(3)) that requires young chicken slaughter 
establishments operating under NPIS in the United States to provide a location along the production 
line at which a FSIS inspector inspects the first 300 carcasses of each flock together with associated 
viscera for leukosis, as well as the regulation that prescribes inspection procedures for avian leukosis 
in young chicken slaughter establishm ents operating under NPIS in the United States 
(9 CFR 381.76(b)(6)(iv)). Under this final rule, carcasses affected with avian leukosis will be subject 
to the amended 9 CFR 381.87, which provides that any organ or other carcass part affected with 
tumors may  be trimmed and that the unaffected parts of the carcass may be inspected and passed. 
The amended 9 CFR 381.87 also requires condemnation of any organ or other part of a carcass that 
is affected by a tumor where there is evidence of metastasis or that the general condition of the bird 
has been affected by the size, position, or nature of the tumor.  G/SPS/N/USA/3318/Add.1  
 
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  Full text for this Federal Register notice (88 FR 55909) can be accessed at: 
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/08/17/2023 -17451/condemnation -of-poultry -
carcasses -affected -with-any-form-of-avian -leukosis -complex -recission  
This final rule, published 17 August 2023, is effective 18 September 2023.  
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/m edia_file/documents/FSIS -2021-
0004F.pdf https://www.regulations.gov/document/FSIS -2021-0004-0017 
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/08/17/2023 -17451/condemnation -of-poultry -
carcasses -affected -with-any-form-of-avian -leukosis -complex -recission  
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2023/SPS/USA/23_11889_00_e.pdf  
This addendum concerns a:  
[ ] Modification of final date for comments  
[X] Notification of adoption, publication or entry into force of regulation  
[ ] Modification of content and/or scope of previously notified draft regulation  
[ ] Withdrawal of proposed regulation  
[ ] Change in proposed date of adoption, publication or date o f entry into force  
[ ] Other:  
Comment period: (If the addendum extends the scope of the previously notified measure 
in terms of products and/or potentially affected Members, a new deadline for receipt of 
comments should be provided, normally of at least  60 calendar days. Under other 
circumstances, such as extension of originally announced final date for comments, the 
comment period provided in the addendum may vary.)  
[ ] Sixty days from the date of circulation of the addendum to the notification and/or 
(dd/mm/yy) : Effective date: 17 August 2023; Adoption date: 18 September 2023  
Agency or authority designated to handle comments: [X]  National Notification Authority, 
[X] National Enquiry Point. Address, fax number and e -mail address (if available) of other 
body:  
Rachel Edelstein, Assistant Administrator, US Department of Agriculture FSIS Office of Policy and 
Program Development; Tel: +(1 202) 937 4272  
Text(s) available from: [X]  National Notification Authority, [X] National Enquiry Point. 
Address, fax number and e -mail address (if available) of other body:  
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/policy/fed eral-register -rulemaking/federal -register -rules/condemnation -
poultry -carcasses -affected  
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sit es/default/files/media_file/documents/FSIS -2021-0004F.pdf  
https://www.regulations.gov/document/FSIS -2021-0004-0017 
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/08/17/2023 -17451/condemnation -of-poultry-
carcasses -affected -with-any-form-of-avian -leukosis -complex -recission  
 
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