. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/USA/1765 
5 February 2008  
 (08-0522) 
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 numb er(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Meat and poultry products 
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:  Salmonella Verification 
Sampling Program:  Response to Comments and Ne w Agency Policies (available in English, 
8 pages) 
6. Description of content:  The Food Safety and Inspection Se rvice (FSIS) is announcing new 
policies for the Agency's Salmonella Verifi cation Sampling Program and related activities 
conducted in meat and poultry establishmen ts.  These changes include publication of 
completed FSIS verification sample set results for establishments that show inconsistency in 
their ability to meet Salmone lla performance standards, be ginning with those from young 
chicken slaughter establishmen ts; a voluntary incentive-base d program for meat and poultry 
establishments that should yield significant data on attribution of human illness to FSIS-regulated products; and increasing the Agency's  use of targeted sampling approaches and 
collaborative serotype a nd subtype data.  FSIS is taking thes e actions to advance its efforts to 
achieve the Agency's public health goal of significantly reducing human cases of 
salmonellosis.  
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 pests    
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [ X ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    G/SPS/N/USA/1765 
Page 2  
 
  9. Relevant documents and language (s) in which these are available:   F e d e r a l  R e g i s t e r :   
28 January 2008 (Volume 73, Number 18), Pa ges 4767-4774. Available in English at:  
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Frame/ FrameRedirect.asp?main=http ://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/
rdad/FRPubs/2006-0034.htm  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  28 March 2008 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  28 March 2008 
12. Final date for comments:  27 February 2008 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or  address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body: 
Federal eRulemaking Portal: This Web site pr ovides the ability to type short comments 
directly into the comment field on this Web pa ge or attach a file for lengthier comments. 
FSIS prefers to receive comments through th e Federal eRulemaking Portal.  Go to 
http://www.regulations.gov , and in the "Search" select  Food Safety and Inspection 
Mail, including floppy disks or CD-ROM's, and hand- or courier-delivered items:  Send to 
Docket Clerk, US Department of Agriculture , Food Safety and Inspection Service, 1400 
Independence Avenue, SW., Room 2534 South Building, Washington, DC 20250 
Electronic mail:  fsis.regulatio nscomments@fsis.usda.gov.  All submissions received must 
include the Agency name and FDMS docket number FSIS-2006-0034.  All comments submitted in response to this Notice will be posted to the regulations.gov Web site. 
Comments will also be availabl e for public inspection in the FSIS Docket Room at the 
address listed above betw een 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. 
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notificati on authority, [   ] Na tional enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
United States SPS National Notification Aut hority, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, 
International Regulations and Standards Division (IRSD), Stop 1027, Washington D.C. 
20250;  Tel:  +(1 202) 720-1301;  Fa x:  +(1 202) 690-0677;  E-mail:  
us.spsenquirypoint@fas.usda.gov