FSIS Constituent Update - July 9, 2004 1 Congressional & Public Affairs Office

Export

Requirement

Updates

The Library of Export

Requirements has been

updated to reflect

changes in export

requirements for the

following countries:

Belize

Chile

El Salvador

Kazakhstan

Mexico

Russia

Singapore

Complete information

can be found at:

www.fsis.usda.gov/OFO/

export/explib.htm

Volume 5, Issue 26

United States Department of Agriculture

Food Safety and Inspection Service

July 9, 2004

Protecting Public Health Through Food Safety

FSIS Constituent Update

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and

Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today announced three additional

measures being taken to strengthen existing safeguards that protect Americans

against the agent that causes bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, also

known as “mad cow disease”).

USDA and HHS Strengthen

Safeguards Against BSE

The three rules being announced today are: an interim final HHS rule that

prohibits the use of certain cattle-derived materials in the product of and as

ingredients in all human food and cosmetics; a proposed rule that requests

comments on recordkeeping requirements for the interim final rule; and a joint

USDA/HHS notice that asks for public comment on additional preventive

actions concerning BSE.

For more information on the rules and how to comment visit:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/

To allow interested parties and stakeholders the opportunity to comment on

the wide variety of regulatory policy decisions, USDA’s Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and FSIS, along with the HHS, developed

an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to inform the public about

the international review team’s report and recommendations, actions already

taken by each agency on BSE, and to solicit public comment on the additional

measures under consideration.

“We are taking this proactive step to ensure that as USDA and HHS move

ahead with comprehensive BSE strategies and long term policies, stakeholders

and the public will have the opportunity to provide their input,” said Secretary

Veneman.
 FSIS Constituent Update -July 9, 2004 2 Congressional & Public Affairs Office

THIS

WEEK’S

HOT WEB

 LINKS

Codex Alimentarius

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/

Regulations_&_Policies/

Codex_Alimentarius/

Speeches and

Presentations

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/

News_&_Events/

2004_speeches/

Food Security and

Emergency Preparedness

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/

Food_Security_&_Emergency

_Preparedness/

On June 30, NVSL announced the June 25 inconclusive screen came back

negative and on July 2 announced that the June 29 inconclusive screen also

came back negative. NVSL used the world-recognized gold-standard test

for BSE, the immunohistochemistry test, to confirm this finding.

Deputy Administrator, APHIS, Dr. John Clifford assured, “An inconclusive

result does not mean we have found another case of BSE in this country.

Inconclusive results are a normal component of screening tests, which are

designed to be extremely sensitive so they will detect any sample that could

possibly be positive.”

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection (APHIS) service was notified that

an inconclusive BSE test result was received on a rapid screening test used

as part of the enhanced BSE surveillance program on June 25 and June 29.

Tissue samples were sent to USDA’s National Veterinary Services

Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, the national BSE reference lab, for

confirmatory testing.

Inconclusive BSE Test Results

are Negative

The carcasses were accounted for and did not enter the food supply. The

ban on specified risk materials from the human food chain provides

protection to public health, should another case of BSE ever be detected in

the United States.

The surveillance program is designed to test as many animals as possible in

the populations that are considered to be at high risk for BSE. USDA is on

track to test 268,000 animals in the next 12 to 18 months. These tests will

be able to find the disease if it occurs in as few as one in 10 million adult

cattle with a 99 percent confidence level assuming that all of the positives

are in the targeted high risk population. In other words, the program

could detect BSE even if there were only five positive animals in the target

population in the entire country.

 Directive on Detention and

Seizure Procedures Rewritten

FSIS Directive 8410.1, Rev. 2, provides the procedures that program

personnel follow when detaining, or preparing a recommendation to seize,

meat, poultry, and egg products. This directive has been rewritten in its

entirety to reflect the new duties of some FSIS program personnel and to

update the procedures for carrying out detentions and for petitioning for

seizures. To view this directive visit:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations_&_Policies/
FSIS Constituent Update - July 9, 2004 3 Congressional & Public Affairs Office

The International

Equivalence Staff

E. coli O157:H7 Workshop

Locations for July

FSIS continues its series of teaching workshops around the nation through September

2004 for small and very small plants on new directives designed to strengthen E. coli

O157:H7 prevention procedures. The workshops are scheduled on Saturdays from

9 am to 2 pm FSIS officials will present the materials in the directives to operators of

small and very small federally-inspected plants, state-inspected plants, federal and

state inspection personnel, members of academia and other interested parties. The

three directives to be covered during the sessions are: Directive 10,010.1 Revision 1,

Microbiological Testing Program and Other Verification Activities for E. coli O157:H7

in Raw Ground Beef Products and Raw Ground Beef Components and Beef Patty

Components; Directive 6420.0, Verification of Procedures for Controlling Fecal

Material, Ingesta and Milk in Slaughter Operations; and Directive 5000.2, Review of

Establishment Data by Inspection Program Personnel.

The following workshops scheduled for July are as follows:

The International Equivalence

Staff is responsible for ensuring

meat, poultry and egg products

imported into the US are

produced under standards

equivalent to US food safety

standards.

FSIS determines equivalence by

evaluating whether foreign food

regulatory systems attain the

appropriate level of protection

provided by our domestic

system.

Thus, while foreign food

regulatory systems need not be

identical to the US system, they

must employ equivalent sanitary

measures that provide the same

level of protection against food

hazards as is achieved

domestically. FSIS evaluates

foreign food regulatory systems

for equivalence through

document reviews, on-site

audits and port-of-entry

reinspection of products at the

time of importation.

For more information on the

equivalence process please visit

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/

To Contact the Constituent Update Editor regulations_&_policies/

Crystal Straughn crystal.straughn@fsis.usda.gov (202) 720-9113

Featured

Office of the

Week

 July 31 Ramada Inn - East

 1355 East Boulevard

 Montgomery, AL 36117

 Phone: (334) 277-2200

To pre-register for this weekend’s workshop in New York, N.Y. please call (202)

690-6520 or e-mail renee.ellis@fsis.usda.gov. You may also register for this

workshop and all future workshops by calling (866) 553-3052 or via FSIS’ Web

site: www.fsis.usda.gov/News/Meetings_&_Events

Chesterfield, Mo.

(636) 532-5000

Date Meeting Location

July 10 The Westin New York at Times Square

270 West 43rd St.

New York, N.Y.

(212) 201-2700

July 17 Holiday Inn Capitol Plaza

300 “J” Street

Sacramento, Calif.

(916) 446-0100

July 24 Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center

 16625 Swingley Ridge Road
 FSIS Constituent Update -July 9, 2004 4 Congressional & Public Affairs Office

FSIS Directive: Experimental

and Sample Products Policy

FSIS Directive 7000.2, provides instructions to FSIS personnel concerning

the production and inspection of experimental and sample products.

.

The USDA

Food Safety

Mobile:

Taking Food

Safety

Education

on the Road

The USDA Food Safety

Mobile is a 35-foot,

recreational-style vehicle

covered with a bold,

eye-catching design and

prominent food safety

messages, including the

four Fight BAC!®

messages of the

Partnership for Food

Safety Education.

July 10- 11, 2004

Taste of Buffalo

New York, N.Y.

July 13, 2004

Food Safety Fair in

Hanover Square

Syracuse, N..Y.

FSIS Seeks Comments on New

Technology Web Site

FSIS issued a Federal Register notice (Docket No. 04-003N) on June 17, 2004,

requesting comments on the types of information it intends to post on its

web site regarding new food safety technologies that meat and poultry

establishments may implement.

The posted information will focus on new technologies currently under

review, or that have already been reviewed, by the agency. Comments are

being sought specifically regarding the value to the public, as well as the

potential costs and negative effects that this information would have if

made available to the public.

All submissions received must include the agency name and docket number

04-003N and be received by July 19, 2004. Comments may be submitted to

Docket Clerk, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection

Service, 300 12th Street, SW., Room 102 Cotton Annex, Washington, DC

20250 or through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov.

The notice is available at:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FRPubs/04-003N.htm

Experimental products are products that are produced for research and

development and not offered for sale. They are new products or existing

products that introduce a new formulation or flavor. These products may

be prepared and taste tested in such facilities as test kitchens, sensory panel

rooms, research and development facilities within a corporate organization,

and inspected or non-inspected areas within an establishment. While still

under the control of the company, these products may be made available to

test panels or company employees that will judge the quality and appeal of

the new product. The panels may meet within the establishment’s facilities,

sensory panel rooms, or under contracted conditions, such as at an

independent evaluator’s location where the company retains control of the

product. Sample products are products that are made available for

pre-market consumer testing and available to the general public and not for

sale. The company relinquishes control of the product by its distribution to

those outside the employ of the company. To view this directive visit:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations_&_Policies/