This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

12119 

Vol. 86, No. 39 

Tuesday, March 2, 2021 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 800 

[Doc. No. AMS–FGIS–20–0001] 

RIN 0581–AD94 

Fees for Supervision of Official 

Inspection and Weighing Services 

Performed by Delegated States and/or 

Designated Agencies, Miscellaneous 

Fees for Other Services, and Removal 

of Specific Fee References 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) invites comments on a 

proposal to implement a standardized 

formula model for calculating Federal 

Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) 

supervision fees. The proposed change 

would enable FGIS to adjust supervision 

fees annually in order to maintain an 

appropriate operating reserve as 

required by the United States Grain 

Standards Act (USGSA). As with other 

AMS fee-based programs, AMS would 

publish annual FGIS fee updates in the 

Federal Register and post updated fee 

schedules on its website. The proposed 

rule would also eliminate or revise 

certain registration and duplication fees 

charged by FGIS. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before April 1, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments 

concerning this proposed rule. All 

comments must be submitted through 

the Federal e-rulemaking portal at 

http://www.regulations.gov and should 

reference the document number and the 

date and page number of this issue of 

the Federal Register. All comments 

submitted in response to this proposed 

rule will be included in the record and 

will be made available to the public. 

Please be advised that the identity of the 

individuals or entities submitting 

comments will be made public on the 

internet at the address provided above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Denise Ruggles, FGIS Executive Program 

Analyst, AMS, USDA; Telephone: (816) 

659–8406; Email: Denise.M.Ruggles@

usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

USGSA (7 U.S.C. 71 et seq.) authorizes 

FGIS, a program area within AMS, to 

supervise grain inspection and weighing 

services provided by official agencies 

and to charge and collect reasonable 

fees to cover the cost of such 

supervision. These fees are charged by 

official agencies to their customers 

(grain industry) as part of the overall fee 

charged for inspection and weighing 

services. Supervision fees collected by 

FGIS cover, as nearly as practicable, the 

program and administrative costs of 

supervising official agencies. 

FGIS regularly reviews its user-fee 

financed programs under USGSA to 

determine whether the fees are adequate 

and appropriate operating reserve fund 

levels are maintained. On July 1, 2016, 

following such a review (81 FR 41790; 

June 28, 2016), FGIS suspended the 

assessment of fees for supervision of 

official inspection and weighing 

services performed by delegated States 

and/or designated agencies to reduce 

the operating reserve. This suspension 

ended on December 31, 2020. FGIS’s 

operating reserve at that time was 

adequate to cover 3 to 6 months’ 

operating expenses as required, but the 

program will need to resume assessment 

of tonnage fees to cover the ongoing 

costs of supervision. 

Based on the review, FGIS proposes to 

move to a standardized formula model 

for annual fee adjustments to recover 

the costs associated with administering 

the official agency supervision program. 

This action would maintain FGIS’s 

financial stability to assure continued 

inspection and weighing services to the 

grain industry, which would further 

facilitate the sound and orderly 

marketing of grain in domestic and 

export markets. FGIS believes this 

approach would be acceptable to the 

grain industry. 

The fees for supervising official 

agencies were last revised in 2005 (70 

FR 50149; August 26, 2005). The fee 

schedule at 7 CFR 800.71(a)(2) 

(Schedule B) has not been changed 

since then. Currently, the FGIS fee for 

supervision of official agencies is set at 

$0.011 per metric ton of domestic U.S. 

grain shipments inspected and/or 

weighed, including land carrier 

shipments to Canada or Mexico. 

Financial data for the supervision of 

official agencies program for fiscal years 

(FY) 2016 through 2020 is reviewed in 

Table 1. 

TABLE 1—SUPERVISION OF OFFICIAL AGENCIES FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

[Millions of dollars] * 

FY 16 FY 17 FY 18 FY 19 FY 20 

Revenue ................................................................................................... $1.91 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Obligations ............................................................................................... 1.43 1.78 1.88 1.55 1.81 

Annual Surplus or (Deficit) ....................................................................... 0.47 (1.78) (1.88) (1.55) (1.81) 

Operating Reserve—running balance ..................................................... 8.73 6.95 5.08 3.53 1.73 

* Figures may not sum due to rounding and adjustments of prior year obligations.

As illustrated by Table 1, while 

revenues have been suspended since 

July 2016, FGIS obligations have 

generally increased due to inflation and 

cost of living adjustments. The 

exception was in FY19, when the 

accounts of the former Grain Inspection, 

Packers and Stockyards Administration 

(GIPSA), which included FGIS, were 

merged with AMS, along with the closeout of obligations. As explained above, 

the current fee structure generated a 

recurring annual operating surplus for 

several years, resulting in a decision to 

suspend the collection of the fees in 


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12120 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 39 / Tuesday, March 2, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

2016 that would gradually reduce the 

operating reserves to meet AMS’s target 

of maintaining funds to cover 3 to 6 

months’ expenses. Monthly costs to 

operate the supervision of official 

agencies in FY 2020 were $151,000. 

Thus, AMS would consider an operating 

reserve of between $0.45 million and 

$0.91 million (3 and 6 times the 

monthly operating cost, respectively) at 

the end of FY 2020 to be appropriate. At 

the end of FY 2020, the operating 

reserve balance was $1.73 million, 

enough to cover eleven and one half 

months of expenses. 

To prevent accumulating a reserve 

balance beyond the targeted amount (3 

to 6 times the monthly operating cost), 

AMS proposes to adopt a standardized 

formula for calculating user fees for 

each calendar year (CY). AMS expects 

that reducing fees in the proposed 

manner would gradually reduce the 

balance in the reserve fund, while also 

allowing FGIS to continue making 

strategic operational expenditures to 

meet industry expectations and achieve 

United States Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) goals. 

Calculations 

This proposal calculates the 

supervision tonnage fee using the prior 

year’s actual costs and average yearly 

tonnage of domestic U.S. grain 

shipments inspected and/or weighed, 

including land carrier shipments to 

Canada and Mexico during the previous 

5 fiscal years. 

As a result, we are proposing to add 

new § 800.71(b)(2)(i) and (ii) to include 

the following formulas for calculating 

fee rates for CY 2021 and succeeding 

years. 

Operating Reserve Adjustment. FGIS 

would divide the total prior year 

supervision costs by 2 to determine the 

6-months operating reserve goal. From

that value, FGIS would subtract the FY

operating reserve ending balance to

obtain the operating reserve adjustment

for determining the supervision tonnage

fee.

Supervision tonnage fee. FGIS would 

add the total prior year supervision 

costs and the operating reserve 

adjustment, then divide the result by the 

previous 5-year average tonnage. If the 

calculated fee is zero or a negative 

value, FGIS would suspend collection of 

supervision tonnage fees for the next 

calendar year. 

In addition to implementing a new 

formula for calculating supervision 

tonnage fees, this proposal would also 

revise: 

• Section 801.71(a)(2)—Schedule B—

to remove the currently specified fee 

and provide that annual supervision 

fees would be as published on the AMS 

website. 

• The introductory text of

§ 801.71(b)—Annual review of fees—to

convey that weighing and inspection

fees, as well as supervision fees, would

be recalculated annually.

• Section 801.71(b)(1) to clarify that

the tonnage fees calculated in that 

section pertain only to FGIS inspection 

and weighing (Schedule A) fees. 

• Section 801.71(b) by redesignating

paragraph (b)(2) as paragraph (b)(3) and 

adding a new paragraph (b)(2) that 

outlines the supervision fee 

calculations, as described earlier. 

Miscellaneous Fees for Other Services 

In addition to the above changes 

related to supervision fees, AMS 

proposes to make the following changes 

to other fee requirements in § 801.71(d). 

The proposed rule would remove the 

introductory text of § 801.71(d)(1)(i)— 

Registration certificates and renewals, 

and would consolidate paragraphs 

(d)(1)(i)(A) and (B) of that section, 

which currently provide flat fees for 

registering business operations that buy, 

handle, weigh, or transport grain for sale 

in foreign commerce or for such 

businesses that are also in a control 

relationship with respect to a business 

that buys, handles, weighs, or transports 

grain for sale in interstate commerce. 

Currently, the registration fee for the 

former is $135, and the registration fee 

for the latter is $270. The proposed rule 

would combine the two charges into 

one. AMS proposes to calculate the 

export registration fee using the 

following formula and adjust the fees 

annually, as necessary. 

Registration certificates and renewals. 

FGIS would multiply § 800.71(a) Table 

1 of Schedule A noncontract hourly rate 

by quantity of five. The fee covers FGIS 

personnel costs to review applications, 

monitor annually, publication costs, and 

administrative expenses. 

AMS would publish the annual rate 

in the Federal Register and on the AMS 

website. The anticipated consolidated 

fee for calendar year 2021 is estimated 

to be $300 using current published fees. 

The proposed rule would remove 

§ 800.71(d)(1)(ii), which provides

charges for providing extra copies of

registration certificates, as the

certificates are now provided

electronically for printing by the

applicant.

The proposed rule would revise 

§ 800.71(d)(2) to remove the provision of

a flat fee for applications to amend an

official agency designation and would

instead calculate the rate using the

following formula. The rate will be

adjusted annually and published on the 

AMS website. 

Designation amendments. FGIS will 

calculate the rate using Federal Register 

publication rate for 3 columns, plus 1 

hour of noncontract hourly rate from 

§ 800.71(a) Table 1 of Schedule A. The

fee covers FGIS personnel costs,

administrative expenses, and Federal

Register publication costs.

The current rate is $75 per 

application; AMS estimates the fee 

would be $510 for calendar year 2021 

using current published fees. AMS 

typically receives only one or two 

requests each year, so the overall cost to 

official agencies is not expected to be 

significant. AMS proposes to review the 

costs to process and publish designation 

amendments and adjust the fees 

annually, as necessary. 

Finally, the proposed rule would 

remove § 800.71(d)(3), which provides a 

flat application fee for operating a scale 

testing organization. FGIS hasn’t 

approved such an organization in the 

past 5 years. Now States that operate as 

scale testing organizations, in addition 

to FGIS, provide service in areas that are 

not in reasonably close proximity to 

FGIS duty stations. Scale operators pay 

far less in travel costs by obtaining 

services provided by their local State 

scale testing organizations on behalf of 

FGIS. Additionally, this increases FGIS 

efficiency by reducing staff travel and 

allowing their deployment to other 

mission duties. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

Executive Orders 12866—Regulatory 

Planning and Review, and 13563— 

Improving Regulation and Regulatory 

Review, direct agencies to assess all 

costs and benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). Executive Order 13563 

emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits of 

reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and 

promoting flexibility. This proposed 

rule does not meet the criteria of a 

significant regulatory action under 

Executive Order 12866 as supplemented 

by Executive Order 13563. Therefore, 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has not reviewed this rule under 

those orders. 

AMS considered several alternatives 

to the changes in this proposed rule, 

including reinstating the current fee or 

applying a standardized formula using 1 

year of supervision tonnage versus the 

5-year supervision tonnage average.


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 39 / Tuesday, March 2, 2021 / Proposed Rules 12121 

Ultimately, AMS determined that the 

proposed approach of recalculating the 

fee each year using a standard formula 

based on a 5-year supervision tonnage 

average would provide savings to the 

industry when the operating reserve 

balance exceeds FGIS’s goal and would 

limit large fee increases following years 

where supervision tonnage volumes are 

significantly less. AMS expects the 

proposed changes to benefit the grain 

industry by adjusting supervision fee as 

needed annually to reflect actual 

expenses related to grain inspections 

supervision and maintaining 

appropriate operating reserve balances. 

AMS does not expect the proposed rule 

to provide any environmental, public 

health, or safety benefits. AMS has not 

identified any costs related to this 

proposed action. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule has been reviewed 

under Executive Order 12988—Civil 

Justice Reform. This proposed rule is 

not intended to have retroactive effect. 

The USGSA provides in Sec. 87g that no 

State or subdivision thereof may require 

or impose any requirements or 

restrictions concerning the inspection, 

weighing, or description of grain under 

the Act. This proposed rule will not 

preempt any State or local laws, 

regulations, or policies, unless they 

present an irreconcilable conflict with 

this proposed rule. No administrative 

proceedings would be required before 

parties could file suit in court 

challenging the provisions of this 

proposed rule. 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Pursuant to the requirements set forth 

in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

(5 U.S.C. 601–602), AMS has considered 

the economic impact of this proposed 

action on small entities. The purpose of 

the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the 

scale of businesses subject to such 

actions in order that small businesses 

will not be unduly or disproportionately 

burdened. 

This proposed rule sets the fees for 

three different FGIS functions: (1) Fees 

for FGIS Supervision, (2) fees for 

registration certificates and renewals for 

exporters of grain, and (3) fees for 

amending the designation of official 

agencies. 

AMS has determined that this 

proposed rule does not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities, 

because most applicants (grain industry) 

that apply for these official services and 

are subjected to AMS supervision fees, 

do not meet the requirements for small 

entities. This proposed rule will affect 

entities engaged in shipping grain to 

and from points within the United 

States and exporting grain from the 

United States to Canada and Mexico. 

There are approximately 9,500 off-farm 

storage facilities in the United States 

that could receive grain services from 

delegated States or designated agencies. 

AMS estimates 25 percent of these users 

would be considered small businesses 

based on criteria established by the 

Small Business Administration (13 CFR 

121.201) (SBA) to differentiate between 

large and small business entities. SBA 

uses the North American Industry 

Classification System (NAICS) to 

categorize various industry businesses. 

SBA defines small grain farmers, NAICS 

codes 424510 and 493130, as those 

whose annual receipts do not exceed 

$750,000 and no more than 500 

employees. 

With respect to fees for supervision, 

those fees are a minor amount compared 

to the total value of the grain shipments. 

The carrier types shipped by small 

entities are submitted samples and 

trucks with a standardized weight of 

23.95 metric tons and railcars with a 

standardized weight of 99.79 metric 

tons. Supervision fees assessed on these 

carriers at the current published rate are 

$0.26 per truck with a 2020 corn market 

year value of $2,700, and $1.10 per 

railcar with a 2020 corn market year 

value of $12,600. 

The registration certificates and 

renewal fee applies to persons engaged 

in the business of buying grain for sale 

in foreign commerce, and in the 

business of handling, weighing, or 

transporting of grain for sale in foreign 

commerce. Under the provisions of the 

USGSA, grain exported from the United 

States must be officially inspected and 

weighed. Mandatory inspection and 

weighing services were provided by 

AMS and official agencies on a fee basis 

for 73 registered exporters in CY 2019. 

Seventy-seven of the currently 

registered entities are owned and 

managed by multi-national 

corporations, large cooperatives, or 

public entities that do not meet the 

criteria for small entities established by 

the SBA. In 2019, approximately 11 

small exporters registered with FGIS, 

and in 2020 approximately 7 small 

exporters registered with FGIS. As 

explained, with the estimated 

calculation of the registration fees for 

2021 at $300, FGIS believes the 

registration fees would have a minor 

effect on the small number of small 

business that register with FGIS. 

Finally, the designation amendment 

applies to an official agency requesting 

a modification to its designation within 

the five-year designation period. AMS 

has 42 designated States and agencies, 

and thirteen of these designated 

agencies meet the criteria for small 

entities established by the SBA. As 

explained earlier, the estimated 

designation amendment fee for 2021 

would be $510. FGIS believes the 

designation amendment fee would have 

a minor impact on small businesses, 

since it typically receives no more than 

two modification requests per year. 

Proposed adoption of standardized 

AMS user-fee rate calculations for 2021 

and beyond would benefit all inspection 

applicants, regardless of size, as fees 

would more closely reflect the current 

cost of inspections, and the fee 

calculation process would be more 

transparent. Through its annual review, 

AMS would be able to monitor the 

financial status of the grain supervision 

program to determine whether further 

adjustments are necessary. 

AMS has determined this proposed 

rule would not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of entities as defined under the 

RFA because fewer than half the 

applicants for grain inspection services 

meet the definition of small entities. 

Finally, USDA has not identified any 

relevant Federal rules that duplicate, 

overlap, or conflict with this proposed 

rule. 

Paperwork Reduction Act and EGovernment Act 

In compliance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35), the information collection 

and record keeping requirements of the 

supervision of official agencies program 

have previously been approved by OMB 

under control number 0580–0013. No 

additional reporting, record keeping, or 

other compliance requirements would 

be imposed as a result of this proposed 

rule. 

AMS is committed to complying with 

the E-Government Act (44 U.S.C. 3601 

et seq.), to promote the use of the 

internet and other information 

technologies to provide increased 

opportunities for citizen access to 

Government information and services, 

and for other purposes. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 800 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Grain. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, AMS proposes to amend 7 

CFR part 800 as follows: 

PART 800—GENERAL REGULATIONS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 800 

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 71–87k. 


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12122 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 39 / Tuesday, March 2, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

§ 800.71 [Amended] 

■ 2. Amend § 800.71 by: 

■ a. Revising paragraph (a)(2); 

■ b. Revising the introductory text in 

paragraph (b); 

■ c. Revising the first sentence in 

paragraph (b)(1); 

■ d. Redesignating paragraph (b)(2) as 

paragraph (b)(3); 

■ e. Adding new paragraph (b)(2); and 

■ f. Revising paragraph (d). 

The revisions and addition read as 

follows: 

§ 800.71 Fees assessed by the Service. 

(a) * * * 

(2) Schedule B—Fees for FGIS 

Supervision of Official Inspection and 

Weighing Services Performed by 

Delegated States and/or Designated 

Agencies in the United States. The 

supervision fee charged by the Service 

will be assessed per metric ton of 

domestic U.S. grain shipments 

inspected and/or weighed, including 

land carrier shipments to Canada and 

Mexico. For each calendar year, FGIS 

will calculate Schedule B fees as 

defined in paragraph (b) of this section. 

FGIS will publish a notice in the 

Federal Register and post Schedule B 

fees on the Agency’s public website. 

(b) Annual review of fees. For each 

calendar year, starting with 2021, the 

Service will review the fees of this 

section and publish fees each year 

according to the following: 

(1) Tonnage fees. Tonnage fees in 

Schedule A in paragraph (a)(1) of this 

section will consist of the national 

tonnage fee and local tonnage fees and 

will be calculated and rounded to the 

nearest $0.001 per metric ton. * * * 

* * * * * 

(2) Supervision fee. Supervision fee in 

Schedule B in paragraph (a)(2) of this 

section will be set according to the 

following: 

(i) Operating reserve adjustment. The 

operating reserve adjustment is the 

supervision program costs for the 

previous fiscal year divided by 2 less 

the end of previous fiscal year operating 

reserve balance. 

(ii) Supervision tonnage fee. The 

supervision tonnage fee is the sum of 

the prior fiscal year program costs plus 

operating reserve adjustment divided by 

the average yearly tons of domestic U.S. 

grain shipments inspected and/or 

weighed, including land carrier 

shipments to Canada and Mexico during 

the previous 5 fiscal years. If the 

calculated value is zero or a negative 

value, the collection of supervision 

tonnage fees will be suspended for one 

calendar year. 

* * * * * 

(d) Miscellaneous fees for other 

services. For each calendar year, the 

Service will review the fees of this 

section and publish fees in the Federal 

Register and on the AMS website. 

(1) Registration certificates and 

renewals. The fee for registration 

certificates and renewals will be 

published annually in the Federal 

Register and on the Agency’s public 

website, and will be based upon the 

noncontract hourly rate multiplied by 

five. If you operate a business that buys, 

handles, weighs, transports grain for 

sale in foreign commerce, or you are 

also in a control relationship (see 

definition in section 17A(b)(2) of the 

Act) with respect to a business that 

buys, handles, weighs, or transports 

grain for sale in interstate commerce, 

you must complete an application and 

pay the published fee. 

(2) Designation amendments. The fee 

for amending designations will be 

published annually in the Federal 

Register and on the Agency’s public 

website. The fee will be based upon the 

cost of publication plus one hour at the 

noncontract hourly rate. If you submit 

an application to amend a designation, 

you must pay the published fee. 

Bruce Summers, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–03537 Filed 3–1–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

9 CFR Parts 307, 350, 352, 354, 362, 

381, 533, 590, and 592 

[Docket No. FSIS–2020–0019] 

RIN 0583–AD86 

Internet Access at Official 

Establishments and Plants 

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Food Safety and 

Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing 

to amend its regulations to require 

official meat and poultry establishments 

and egg products plants and businesses 

receiving voluntary inspection services 

from FSIS that have an internet 

connection to provide FSIS access to it 

for the purposes of conducting and 

recording inspection verification 

activities. FSIS views internet service as 

a necessary utility, like lighting, heating, 

and laundry services, that should be 

provided by establishments as a 

regulatory condition of receiving 

inspection. Under this proposal, FSIS 

would not require establishments 

without internet access to purchase it or 

to upgrade the internet services they 

have, if inadequate for FSIS use. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

May 3, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: FSIS invites interested 

persons to submit comments on the 

proposed rule. Comments may be 

submitted by one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: This 

website provides the ability to type 

short comments directly into the 

comment field on this web page or 

attach a file for lengthier comments. Go 

to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 

the on-line instructions at that site for 

submitting comments. 

• Mail, including CD–ROMs, etc.: 

Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, Food Safety and 

Inspection Service, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW, Mailstop 3758, 

Washington, DC 20250–3700. 

• Hand- or courier-delivered 

submittals: Deliver to 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Jamie L. 

Whitten Building, Room 350–E, 

Washington, DC 20250–3700. 

Instructions: All items submitted by 

mail or electronic mail must include the 

Agency name and docket number FSIS– 

2020–0019. Comments received in 

response to this docket will be made 

available for public inspection and 

posted without change, including any 

personal information, to http://

www.regulations.gov. 

Docket: For access to background 

documents or comments received, call 

(202) 720–5627 to schedule a time to 

visit the FSIS Docket Room at 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20250–3700. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rachel Edelstein, Assistant 

Administrator, Office of Policy and 

Program Development; Telephone: (202) 

720–0399. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

FSIS has been delegated the authority 

to exercise the functions of the Secretary 

(7 CFR 2.18, 2.53) as specified in the 

Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (21 

U.S.C. 601, et seq.), the Poultry Products 

Inspection Act (PPIA) (21 U.S.C. 451, et 

seq.) and the Egg Products Inspection 

Act (EPIA) (21 U.S.C. 1031, et seq.). 

These statutes mandate that FSIS 

protect the public by verifying that 

meat, poultry, and egg products are safe, 

wholesome, unadulterated, and 

properly labeled and packaged. In 


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