55996 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 208 / Tuesday, October 28, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Safety and Inspection

Service

9 CFR Chapter III

[Docket No. 97–062N]

Retraction of an Announcement

Concerning Nonfood Compounds and

Proprietary Substances

AGENCY: Food and Safety Inspection

Service, USDA.

ACTION: Policy statement.

SUMMARY: The Food Safety and

Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a

retraction of an announcement that was

mailed to chemical manufacturers and

other businesses and posted on the FSIS

Internet site. This announcement

incorrectly stated that FSIS is

discontinuing its policy of approving all

nonfood compounds and proprietary

substances prior to their use in official

meat and poultry establishments.

Although FSIS did recently publish a

proposal to revise its sanitation

regulations, some of which govern the

use of certain nonfood compounds, the

Agency has not proposed to revise its

policy of approving all nonfood

compounds or proprietary substances

prior to their use in official

establishments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patricia F. Stolfa, Assistant Deputy

Administrator, Regulations and

Inspection Methods, Food Safety and

Inspection Service, U.S. Department of

Agriculture (202) 205–0699.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On September 11, 1997, the FSIS

Compound and Packaging Review

Branch mailed a notice to chemical

manufacturers and other businesses

announcing a change of address.

Included with that notice was a

facsimile of the first page of a proposed

rule, incorrectly identified as FSIS

Docket No. 96–037P, announcing that

the Agency was discontinuing its policy

of approving all nonfood compounds

and proprietary substances prior to their

use in official meat and poultry

establishments. Around the same time,

this facsimile also was posted on the

FSIS Internet site. There is, in fact, no

such proposed rule.

On August 25, 1997, FSIS published

a proposal to convert to performance

standards the sanitation requirements

for meat and poultry establishments

(FSIS Docket No. 96–037P; ‘‘Sanitation

Requirements for Official Meat and

Poultry Establishments’’; 62 FR 45045).

In this document, FSIS proposed to

eliminate the regulations requiring that

certain nonfood compounds, such as

sanitizers and pesticides, be approved

by the Agency prior to their use in

official establishments. FSIS did not

propose, however, to discontinue its

policy of approving all other nonfood

compounds or proprietary substances

prior to their use in official

establishments.

FSIS is currently considering how to

proceed in regard to its policy of

preapproving nonfood compounds and

proprietary substances. In general, prior

approval requirements are inconsistent

with the Agency’s recently finalized

HACCP requirements. FSIS will publish

in the Federal Register a notice

explaining any future revisions to its

prior approval policy for nonfood

compounds and proprietary substances.

FSIS is in the process of directly

notifying each business that may have

been mailed the inaccurate notice of

proposed rulemaking in order to clarify

the Agency’s current policy in regard to

nonfood compounds and proprietary

substances. FSIS is publishing this

retraction to clarify its policy for other

businesses and individuals. Also, in

order to address any confusion

regarding the published sanitation

proposal, FSIS is reopening the

comment period for that proposal

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal

Register (FSIS Docket No. 96–037R,

‘‘Sanitation Requirements for Official

Meat and Poultry Establishments;

Comment Period Reopening’’).

Done in Washington, DC: October 22, 1997.

Thomas J. Billy,

Administrator, Food Safety Inspection

Service.

[FR Doc. 97–28429 Filed 10–22–97; 4:50 pm]

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