FSIS Constituent Update - Sept. 24, 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:

Brazil

France

Japan

Moldova

Peru

Saudi Arabia

Complete information is

currently available at:

www.fsis.usda.gov/OFO/

export/explib.htm

Volume 5, Issue 35

United States Department of Agriculture

Food Safety and Inspection Service

 Sept. 24, 2004

Protecting Public Health Through Food Safety

FSIS Constituent Update

FSIS, in partnership with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) signed a cooperative agreement

with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA),

on Thursday, September 23, 2004. The agreement will further develop

integrated federal-state response plans, in support of the National Response

Plan, for food and agricultural emergencies.

“Strengthening the food security infrastructure remains a high priority for the

Bush Administration,” said Agriculture Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr.

Elsa Murano. “An integrated federal-state response plan will supplement the

nation’s strong food safety threat response system with additional measures to

improve the ability of federal, state and local officials to prevent deliberate

food contamination.”

FSIS, FDA and DHS’s Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection are

funding the development of an integrated approach to prepare for and respond

to emergencies affecting national agriculture and food infrastructure.

The state departments of agriculture will gain technical expertise from FSIS,

FDA and DHS officials through workgroups and tabletop exercises. Best

practices and guidelines for federal and state food regulatory officials will be

developed to address lessons learned from case studies and threat assessments.

Coordination and cooperation among stakeholders in food safety and security

continues to be a principal commitment of the Administration as it continually

strives to make greater advances in protecting the nation’s food supply from

intentional and unintentional threats.

Additional information about food security is available on the FSIS Web page

at www.fsis.usda.gov/Food_Security_&_Emergency_Preparedness/index.asp

and FDA’s Web page, www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fsterr.html.

Joint Partnership Will Make the

Nation’s Food Supply More Secure
FSIS Constituent Update - Sept. 24 , 2004 2 Congressional & Public Affairs Office

THIS

WEEK’S

HOT WEB

 LINKS

Notices Index

www.fsis.usda.gov/

regulations_&_policies/

FSIS_notices_index/

Constituent

Groups

www.fsis.usda.gov/

Constituent_Groups/

Business

www.fsis.usda.gov/

Businesses/

Codex Committee Public

Meeting to Address Residues of

Veterinary Drugs In Foods

Keep Informed - Sign Up For

E-mail Updates

Codex will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 28, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.,

to provide information and receive comments on agenda items for the 15th

Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission’s Committee on Residues of

Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) to be held Oct. 26-29 in Alexandria,

Virginia.

The public meeting will be held at the Best Western Washington Gateway Hotel,

Main Ballroom, 1251 West Montgomery Avenue, Rockville, Md. The meeting

will allow attendees the opportunity to pose questions and offer comments on

the issues and draft U.S. positions that are to be outlined and discussed at the

October session.

Among the agenda items to be discussed are: Maximum Residue Limits for

Veterinary Drugs; Code of Practices to Minimize and Contain Antimicrobial

Resistance; and Guidelines to Establish a Regulatory Program for the Control of

Veterinary Drug Residues in Food.

To submit comments or to receive copies of documents on the agenda, contact

the FSIS Docket Room, Docket #04-030N, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Food Safety and Inspection Service, Room 102, Cotton Annex, 300 12th St.,

SW, Washington, DC 20250-3700.

For further information contact Edith E. Kennard, Staff Officer, U.S. Codex

Office, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Room 4861, South Agriculture

Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250; phone

(202) 205-5261 or email edith.kennard@fsis.usda.gov.

FSIS has a new e-mail subscription service that allows you to receive up-todate information as it is released! You may choose the type of information you

would like to receive: the latest news releases, notices, directives and other

documents. Sign up now at www.fsis.usda.gov/home/
FSIS Constituent Update - Sept. 24, 2004 3 Congressional & Public Affairs Office

Featured

Office of the

Week

To Submit Comments or Questions, Contact the Editor at:

fsisupdate@fsis.usda.gov (202) 720-9113

The Administrator is FSIS’ top

official, with overall responsibility

for all inspection and standardsetting activities. The Office of

the Administrator (OA) oversees

FSIS’ eight major programs.

OA houses the U.S. Office of the

Codex Alimentarius Commission

and the Special Assistant for Civil

Rights.

Office of the

Administrator

FSIS Takes a Formal Swipe at

Listeria

FSIS is taking another stride in the protection of public health through a new

method of data collection to ensure that establishments processing certain Ready

to Eat meat and poultry products are free from Listeria monocytogenes (Lm).

Key to this data collection is the use of of FSIS Form 10,240-1, Production

Information on Post-Lethality Exposed Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Products.

Forms are available online at www.fsis.usda.gov/Forms/index.asp. The forms

may be completed on-line, printed and mailed to FSIS/USDA, Data Analysis and

Statistical Support Staff, Cotton Annex Building, 300 12th Street, SW, Room

201, Washington D.C., 20250 or faxed to (202) 690-0824.

The form was developed in response to an interim final rule (68 CFR 34207) that

amended its regulations to require that official establishments that produce certain

RTE meat and poultry products prevent adulteration by the pathogen Lm. In this

interim final rule, FSIS identified three alternative methods for addressing postlethality contamination of RTE products by Lm and required that establishments

adopt and implement one of these alternatives.

FSIS will develop its risk based verification testing program for establishments

and RTE products based on information collected from Form 10,240-1. This

measure is part of FSIS’ continuing mission to develop strategies that address

food safety hazards throughout the entire food production chain.

For further information contact Dr. Arshad Hussain, Director, Analysis and Statistical

Support Staff, Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, phone (202) 720-3219. Please direct questions to the Technical

Service Center at 1-800-233-3953.