. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/USA/1867 
4 September 2008  
 (08-4138) 
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):  Non-ambulatory di sabled cattle 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  
United States and countries e xporting to the United States 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Requirements for the 
Disposition of Cattle that Become Non- Ambulatory Disabled Following Ante-Mortem 
Inspection (3 pages) 
6. Description of content:  The Food Safety and Inspection Se rvice (FSIS) is proposing to 
amend the Federal meat inspecti on regulations to remove the pr ovision that states that FSIS 
inspection personnel will determine the disposition of cattle that become non-ambulatory 
disabled after they have pa ssed ante-mortem inspection on a case-by-case basis.  This 
proposed rule will require that all cattle that are non-ambulatory disabled at the time, be 
presented for ante-mortem inspection at an official establishment, and all those that become non-ambulatory disabled after pa ssing ante-mortem inspection,  be condemned and properly 
disposed of.  All provisions in the SRM final rule, including the prohibition on the slaughter 
of non-ambulatory disabled cattle , apply to official establis hments and custom slaughter 
operations.  As discussed in the preamble to the SRM final rule, although custom slaughter 
operations are exempt from inspection under sec tion 23(a) of the Fede ral Meat Inspection 
Act, the meat and meat food products prepared in custom operations are still subject to the 
FMIA's adulteration and misbranding provisions (21 U.S.C. 623) .  Thus, custom operators are 
prohibited from slaughtering a nd preparing products from non-am bulatory disabled cattle 
because the carcasses of these animals are co nsidered unfit for human food (72 FR 38704).  In 
the preamble to the SRM final rule, FSIS noted that FSIS inspectors are not available to 
determine the disposition of cattle that be come non-ambulatory disabled in a custom 
operation.  Therefore, as explained in the SRM final rule preamble, if an animal becomes non-ambulatory disabled from an acute injury af ter its owner has delivered it to a custom 
operation for slaughter, the custom operator ma y slaughter the animal for human food if both 
the operator and the owner of the animal did not  observe any other clin ical abnormalities that 
could be consistent with BSE before the animal sustained the acute injury (72 FR 38704).  G/SPS/N/USA/1867 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, 
[ X ] 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:    
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 :   
29 August 2008 (Volume 73, Number 169), Proposed Rules, Page 50889-50892 
Available in English at:  http://www.fsis.usd a.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FRPubs/2008-0022.pdf  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  To be determined. 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  To be determined. 
12. Final date for comments:  29 September 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: 
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will announce it online through the FSIS Web 
page located at  
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations_&_Pol icies/2008_Proposed_Rules_Index/index.asp .  
FSIS will also make copies of this Federal Re gister publication available through the FSIS 
Constituent Update, which is used to provi de information regarding FSIS policies, 
procedures, regulations, Federal Register notices, FSIS public meetings, and other types of 
information that could affect or  would be of interest to cons tituents and stakeholders.  The 
Update is communicated via List serv, a free electronic mail subscription service for industry, 
trade groups, consumer interest groups, health  professionals, and other individuals who have 
asked to be included.  The Update is also available on the FSIS Web page.  Through the Listserv and Web page, FSIS is  able to provide information to a much broader and more 
diverse audience.  In addition,  FSIS offers an e-mail subscription service which provides 
automatic and customized access to  selected food safety news a nd information.  This service 
is available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/news_ and_events/email_subscription/
.  Options range 
from recalls to export information to regulations , directives and notices.  Customers can add 
or delete subscriptions themse lves, and have the option to pa ssword protect their accounts. 
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;  Fax:  +(1 202) 720 0433;  E-mail:  
us.spsenquirypoint@fas.usda.gov