This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

4712 

Vol. 90, No. 10 

Thursday, January 16, 2025 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

[Doc. No. AMS–LP–24–0072] 

United States Classes, Standards, and 

Grades for Poultry 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice, request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural 

Marketing Service (AMS) is seeking 

public comment on revisions to the 

United States Classes, Standards, and 

Grades for Poultry (the Poultry 

Standards). The last minor revision to 

the Poultry Standards occurred in 2018, 

but the last substantial revision prior to 

that occurred in 1998. Since then, 

poultry production and quality 

assessment methods have changed 

significantly, as have consumer 

preferences. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

March 17, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments 

electronically at https://

www.regulations.gov. Written comments 

should be sent to: Poultry Standards 

Revisions, Standards and Specifications 

Division; Livestock and Poultry 

Program, AMS, USDA; 1400 

Independence Avenue SW, STOP 0258; 

Washington, DC 20250–0258. 

Comments may also be emailed to 

AMSPoultryResources@usda.gov. All 

comments should reference document 

number AMS–LP–24–0072, the date of 

submission, and the page number of this 

issue of the Federal Register. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change, including any personal 

information provided, and will be made 

available for public inspection at the 

above physical address during regular 

business hours. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Samantha Rhoderick, National Poultry 

Supervisor, Livestock and Poultry 

Program, phone (202) 603–9025; or 

email at Samantha.Rhoderick@

usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

203(c) of the Agricultural Marketing Act 

of 1946, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1621 et 

seq.), directs and authorizes the 

Secretary of Agriculture ‘‘to develop and 

improve standards of quality, condition, 

quantity, grade, and packaging and 

recommend and demonstrate such 

standards in order to encourage 

uniformity and consistency in 

commercial practices.’’ AMS is 

committed to carrying out this authority 

in a manner that facilitates the 

marketing of agricultural commodities. 

While the Poultry Standards do not 

appear in the Code of Federal 

Regulations, they—along with other 

official Standards—are maintained by 

USDA and can be found at https://

www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards. 

Copies of official Poultry Standards are 

also available upon request. To propose 

changes to the Poultry Standards, AMS 

utilizes the procedures published in the 

August 13, 1997, Federal Register (62 

FR 43439) and in 7 CFR part 36. 

Background 

Official USDA grade Standards and 

associated voluntary, fee-for-service 

grading programs are authorized under 

the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, 

as amended (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.). The 

primary purpose of USDA grade 

Standards, including the Poultry 

Standards, is to divide the population of 

a commodity into uniform groups (of 

similar quality, value, etc.) to facilitate 

marketing. In concert, the Federal 

voluntary, fee-for-service grading 

programs are designed to provide an 

independent, objective determination as 

to whether a given product is in 

conformance with the applicable USDA 

grade standard. USDA quality grades 

provide a simple, effective means of 

describing product that is easily 

understood by both buyers and sellers. 

To ensure the Poultry Standards 

maintain relevance in a dynamic 

industry, USDA accepts 

recommendations for changes from 

interested parties at any time. The 

Poultry Standards were first developed 

in the 1930s, and periodic revisions 

were made to reflect industry 

improvements or changes in the 

marketplace. The current Poultry 

Standards were last updated in 2018, to 

align the definition of ‘‘roaster’’ class 

with the 2013 Food Safety Inspection 

Service definition. Prior to that, the last 

substantial revisions occurred in 1998 

when tolerances for the number and 

length of feathers were established and 

Standards were implemented for 

additional boneless, boneless skinless, 

and size reduced poultry parts. 

The poultry industry has continued to 

evolve by incorporating camera quality 

assessment systems, robotics, artificial 

intelligence, machine learning, and 

other technological advancements. 

These tools will continue to impact how 

products are sorted for quality allowing 

much greater efficiency with decreased 

reliance on manual labor performed by 

authorized plant graders. AMS strives to 

ensure that the Poultry Standards keep 

pace with modernization and continue 

to serve the needs of industry and 

consumers. 

Market trends have also shifted, and 

consumers are increasingly aware of 

industry marketing claims. Easy-toprepare poultry products that require 

minimal preparation steps have grown 

increasingly popular. The 

overwhelming majority of poultry 

marketing is for further processed readyto-eat items, as well as ready-to-cook 

poultry parts (bone-in, skin-on or 

boneless skinless), instead of whole 

carcasses. Therefore, AMS is inviting 

comments for revisions to the Poultry 

Standards that will better serve the 

needs of modern consumers. 

According to the National Chicken 

Council, the average U.S. broiler weight 

at 47 days of age has increased about 

30% from the year 2000 to the year 

2023. New poultry myopathies such as 

woody breast, white striping, spaghetti 

breast, and deep pectoral myopathy 

have presented additional quality 

assessment challenges. Multiple studies 

have provided possible industry 

solutions for detection and segregation 

of affected product. Generally, AMS 

allows time for industry and academia 

to develop solutions to address such 

changes before implementing a revision 

to the Standards. Currently in addition 

to the requests mentioned above, AMS 

is also requesting input from industry 

whether a revision to the Poultry 

Standards to address these myopathies 

is necessary. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 10 / Thursday, January 16, 2025 / Notices 4713 

Request for Comments 

AMS is soliciting comments including 

data, recommendations, and other 

information from stakeholders about 

potential changes to the U.S. Classes, 

Standards, and Grades for Poultry. 

Comments may include any current 

and/or ongoing research or industry 

practice that has relevance to this 

Poultry Standard. AMS also invites 

comments about how those changes 

would be implemented in the Federal 

voluntary, fee-for-service grading 

programs. 

After reviewing the recommendations 

and information submitted in response 

to this notice, AMS will consult with 

other relevant government agencies, 

academia, industry, and stakeholders, to 

determine how updates to the Poultry 

Standards should be made. When 

updates are made, a draft of the updated 

Poultry Standards with all changes will 

be published in the Federal Register for 

an additional comment period. Any 

comments not directly related to 

updates or recommendations that are 

not accompanied by data and other 

information will not be considered. 

AMS invites responses to the 

following questions: 

1. How could the Poultry Standards 

be updated to better align with current 

and future advances in technology? 

2. Are the current Poultry Standards 

and supplemental resources easily 

interpreted by industry employees, 

particularly the authorized plant graders 

actively applying them in facilities? If 

not, what updates to the Poultry 

Standards, additional resources, or 

training material are recommended? 

3. Are there any defect categories that 

have become irrelevant or new defect 

categories that should be added? 

4. How could the tolerances for 

existing defect categories be updated to 

better suit the needs of stakeholders? 

5. Is there information in general 

which should be added to or removed 

from the current Poultry Standards? 

6. How could the Poultry Standards 

be updated to reflect current marketing 

of Poultry? Could U.S. Grade B or U.S. 

Grade C be updated to be more useful 

in the marketing of poultry products, 

similar to how USDA Choice or USDA 

Select are useful marketing terms for red 

meat commodities? 

7. How could the Poultry Standards 

be updated to be more useful to smaller 

poultry operations? 

8. How could the Poultry Standards 

be updated to be more useful to volume 

food buyers and those engaged in 

institutional purchases? 

9. How could the Poultry Standards 

be updated to be more meaningful to 

end consumers? 

10. High quality poultry products are 

procured through the Federal Nutrition 

Assistance and Child Nutrition 

Programs using the Poultry Standards. 

How could the Poultry Standards be 

updated to improve the effectiveness of 

the purchase program in regard to value 

and quality? 

11. Are there any other 

recommendations, suggestions, or ideas 

that would be relevant for AMS to 

consider? 

Melissa Bailey, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2025–01029 Filed 1–15–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2024–0028] 

Addition of Nicaragua to the List of 

Regions Affected With Screwworm 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that we have added Nicaragua to the 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) list maintained on the 

APHIS website of regions considered 

affected with screwworm. We took this 

action because of the confirmation of 

screwworm in this region. 

DATES: Nicaragua was added to the list 

of regions considered affected with 

screwworm effective March 29, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Heather Sriranganathan, APHIS 

Veterinary Services, Regionalization 

Evaluation Services, 4700 River Road, 

Riverdale, MD 20737; phone: (717) 818– 

3582; email: AskRegionalization@

usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

regulations in 9 CFR part 93 (referred to 

below as the regulations) prohibit or 

restrict the importation of certain 

animals into the United States to 

prevent the introduction of 

communicable diseases and pests of 

livestock. Subparts C, D, E, and F of the 

regulations govern the importation of 

horses, ruminants, swine, and dogs, 

respectively. 

Horses, ruminants, swine, and dogs 

may be imported into the United States 

from the regions where screwworm is 

considered to exist only if they are 

inspected and, if necessary, treated for 

screwworm according to the conditions 

outlined in the regulations for each type 

of animal. The requirements for horses 

are set out in § 93.308(a)(3) and include 

not only pre-embarkation and postarrival inspection and treatment 

requirements, but also quarantine in the 

United States for 7 days after arrival, 

and examination by a veterinarian 

before release from quarantine. The 

requirements for ruminants and swine 

are set out in §§ 93.405(a)(3) and 

93.505(b) and are the same as for horses, 

other than the 7-day quarantine and 

final examination of the animal. The 

requirements for dogs are set out in 

§ 93.600 and require that all dogs from 

affected regions be inspected and, if 

necessary, treated before importation. 

The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) maintains a 

list of regions APHIS considers affected 

with screwworm on its website at 

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ 

ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-andanimal-product-import-information/ 

animal-health-status-of-regions/. APHIS 

will add a region to the list upon 

determining that screwworm exists in 

the region based on reports we receive 

of detections of the pest from veterinary 

officials of the exporting country, from 

the World Organization for Animal 

Health (WOAH), or from other sources 

the Administrator determines to be 

reliable. 

On March 22, 2024, APHIS received 

a report from the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Trade and Foreign 

Agricultural Affairs office documenting 

an outbreak of screwworm in cattle in 

Nicaragua. This detection was 

confirmed by the Panama-United States 

Commission for the Eradication and 

Prevention of Screwworm on March 14, 

2024. Accordingly, on March 29, 2024, 

APHIS added Nicaragua to the list of 

regions APHIS considers affected with 

screwworm. As a result, horses, 

ruminants, swine, and dogs from 

Nicaragua are subject to APHIS import 

restrictions designed to mitigate risk of 

screwworm introduction into the United 

States. This notice serves as an official 

record and public notification of this 

action. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1622 and 8301– 

8317; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 31 U.S.C. 

9701; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.4. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 13th day of 

January 2025. 

Michael Watson, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2025–01000 Filed 1–15–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 


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