56624 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 187 / Wednesday, September 28, 2005 / Notices 

hypotheses and provide key indicators 

on consumers’ attitude or perception on 

dietary and safety issues. 

Although ERS plans to have four 

surveys per year, unanticipated events, 

such as unforeseen food safety 

incidents, or large swings in sales 

volume, prices, or quantities of major 

food products, may demand out-of-cycle 

surveys be conducted to keep 

information current. For similar reasons, 

topics for future surveys cannot be 

determined with certainty. 

Estimate of Burden: The reporting 

burden on each respondent completing 

a quarterly survey is estimated to be 7 

minutes. Each quarterly survey will 

have 12–14 questions. 

Respondents: The panel completing 

each survey is composed of consumers 

who have already been recruited by AC 

Nielsen and agree to report all grocery 

purchases and participate in several 

surveys through the Internet. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

The sample size for AC Nielsen’s online 

Internet survey is 6,600 respondents. 

Estimated Total Burden on 

Respondents: 770 hours (7 minutes per 

survey x 6,600 respondents) for each 

quarterly survey. The annual burden for 

four surveys totals 3,080 hours. 

Comments: Comments are invited on 

(a) whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the Agency’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information, including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (d) 

ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technology. 

Comments should be sent to the address 

stated in the preamble. All responses to 

this notice will be summarized and 

included in the request for Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

approval. All comments will also 

become a matter of public record. 

Dated: September 19, 2005. 

Susan E. Offutt, 

Administrator, Economic Research Service, 

USDA. 

[FR Doc. 05–19308 Filed 9–27–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

[Docket No. 04–037N] 

Treatment of Live Poultry Before 

Slaughter 

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Food Safety and 

Inspection Service (FSIS) is reminding 

all poultry slaughter establishments 

that, under the Poultry Products 

Inspection Act (PPIA) and Agency 

regulations, live poultry must be 

handled in a manner that is consistent 

with good commercial practices, which 

means they should be treated humanely. 

Although there is no specific federal 

humane handling and slaughter statute 

for poultry, under the PPIA, poultry 

products are more likely to be 

adulterated if, among other 

circumstances, they are produced from 

birds that have not been treated 

humanely, because such birds are more 

likely to be bruised or to die other than 

by slaughter. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lynn Dickey, PhD, Director, Regulations 

and Petitions Policy Staff, Office of 

Policy, Program, and Employee 

Development, Food Safety and 

Inspection Service, Cotton Annex 

Building, 300 12th Street, SW., Room 

112, Washington, DC 20250–3700; (202) 

720–5627. 

Comments 

FSIS invites interested persons to 

submit comments on this notice. Submit 

comments by October 28, 2005. 

Comments may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

• Mail, including floppy disks or CD–

ROM’s, and hand- or courier-delivered 

items: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Food Safety 

and Inspection Service, 300 12th Street, 

SW., Room 102 Cotton Annex, 

Washington, DC 20250. 

All submissions received must 

include the Agency name and docket 

number 04–037N. All comments 

submitted in response to this notice, as 

well as research and background 

information used by FSIS in developing 

this document, will be available for 

public inspection in the FSIS Docket 

Room at the address listed above 

between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., 

Monday through Friday. The comments 

also will be posted on the Agency’s Web 

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

regulations/2004_Notices_Index/ 

Index.asp. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

The Poultry Products Inspection Act 

(PPIA) and Implementing Regulations 

FSIS considers humane methods of 

handling animals and humane slaughter 

operations a high priority and takes 

seriously any violations of applicable 

laws and regulations. In poultry 

operations, employing humane methods 

of handling and slaughtering that are 

consistent with good commercial 

practices increases the likelihood of 

producing unadulterated product. 

FSIS regulations describe the 

operating procedures that poultry 

processors must follow to ensure 

sanitary processing, proper inspection, 

and the production of poultry products 

that are not adulterated. Under 9 CFR 

381.71, FSIS condemns poultry 

showing, on ante mortem inspection, 

certain diseases or conditions. Bruising 

is one condition that may result in 

condemnation (9 CFR 381.89). Bruises 

are likely to result when birds are not 

treated humanely. 

Moreover, the PPIA (21 U.S.C. 

453(g)(5)), as well as the Agency’s 

regulations (9 CFR 381.90), provide that 

carcasses of poultry showing evidence 

of having died from causes other than 

slaughter are considered adulterated 

and condemned. The regulations also 

require that poultry be slaughtered in 

accordance with good commercial 

practices, in a manner that results in 

thorough bleeding of the poultry 

carcass, and ensures that breathing has 

stopped before scalding so that the birds 

do not drown (9 CFR 381.65(b)). 

Compliance with these requirements 

helps ensure that poultry are treated 

humanely. 

The Reason FSIS Is Issuing This Notice 

at This Time 

FSIS is issuing this notice because 

there has been considerable 

congressional and public interest in the 

humane treatment of animals, including 

poultry. As FSIS explained in the 

September 9, 2004, Federal Register, in 

recent years, Congress has taken various 

actions to strengthen USDA’s resources 

and to ensure that FSIS enforces the 

statutory provisions concerning the 

humane handling and slaughter of 

livestock (69 FR 54625). In addition, the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture has 

received several letters from members of 

Congress expressing concerns regarding 

the humane treatment of poultry and 

supporting legislation to include 

provisions for the humane treatment of 

poultry in the Humane Methods of 

Slaughter Act (HMSA). The HMSA of 

1978 (7 U.S.C.1901 et seq.) requires that 

humane methods be used for handling 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 187 / Wednesday, September 28, 2005 / Notices 56625 

and slaughtering livestock but does not 

include comparable provisions 

concerning the handling and slaughter 

of poultry. 

In the September 9, 2004, Federal 

Register, FSIS also explained that, in 

addition to this congressional interest, 

FSIS has received over 20,000 letters 

from the public (individuals, consumer 

organizations, and animal welfare 

organizations) over the last few years 

expressing concerns regarding the 

humane treatment of livestock (69 FR 

54626). Some of these letters also 

expressed concerns regarding the 

humane treatment of poultry. In 

addition, the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture has received nearly 13,000 

e-mail messages supporting legislation 

to include provisions for the humane 

treatment of poultry in the HMSA. 

Finally, FSIS received a petition from 

the Animal Legal Defense Fund, dated 

November 21, 1995, requesting that 

FSIS amend the Federal poultry 

products inspection regulations to 

require humane standards of slaughter 

for poultry. FSIS denied the petition 

because, as is explained above, there is 

no specific federal humane handling 

and slaughter statute for poultry. 

However, as is also explained above, the 

PPIA and Agency regulations do require 

that live poultry be handled in a manner 

that is consistent with good commercial 

practices, and that they not die from 

causes other than slaughter. 

Undesirable Consequences of Not 

Handling Poultry in Accordance With 

Good Commercial Practices 

The abuse of poultry by killing them 

by an unacceptable method or by 

treating them in a manner that is not 

consistent with good commercial 

practices may render the poultry 

product adulterated and, hence, not 

acceptable for human food. The dead 

birds are considered to be cadavers 

(carcasses of poultry showing evidence 

of having died from causes other than 

slaughter) and are condemned. These 

carcasses are not of good quality, are 

undesirable, and are of no profitable 

advantage to establishments, as they are 

not marketable and could not be sold. In 

contrast, the use of good commercial 

practices tends to produce poultry that 

is processed according to federal 

requirements, and that is wholesome 

and marketable. 

It is a prohibited act to slaughter 

poultry in any way that is not in 

compliance with the PPIA (21 U.S.C. 

458(a)(1)). If birds hung on the slaughter 

line expire prior to slaughter due to 

mishandling, or are being killed in a 

manner that does not comply with good 

commercial practices, the resultant 

product is adulterated under the PPIA. 

FSIS Perspective on the Treatment of 

Poultry 

Many poultry operations may not be 

aware of industry guidelines pertaining 

to the treatment of poultry at slaughter. 

FSIS has included a list of references at 

the end of this notice that may assist 

poultry slaughter establishments in 

considering means of assessing or 

improving their handling and slaughter 

procedures. One method poultry 

operations may wish to examine is a 

systematic approach to ensuring that 

poultry is handled and slaughtered in a 

manner that is consistent with good 

commercial practices. By a ‘‘systematic 

approach,’’ FSIS means one in which 

establishments focus on treating poultry 

in such a manner as to minimize 

excitement, discomfort, and accidental 

injury the entire time that live poultry 

is held in connection with slaughter. 

Establishments can achieve such an 

approach by: 

(1) Assessing under what 

circumstances poultry may experience 

excitement, discomfort, or accidental 

injury while being handled in 

connection with slaughter; 

(2) Taking steps to minimize the 

possibility of such excitement, 

discomfort, and accidental injury; and 

(3) Evaluating periodically how 

poultry are being handled and 

slaughtered to ensure (a) that any 

excitement, discomfort, or accidental 

injury is being minimized; (b) that all 

poultry are slaughtered in a manner that 

results in thorough bleeding of the 

poultry carcass; and (c) that breathing 

has stopped before scalding. 

In the first step of a systematic 

approach, establishments conduct an 

assessment of where handling problems 

may occur. They would consider such 

factors as (1) whether they are providing 

training for their employees in handling 

live poultry, (2) whether feed and water 

withdrawal is kept to the minimum 

level consistent with good processing 

practices, (3) whether they have 

appropriately designed and maintained 

facilities for bird delivery to the 

establishment, (4) whether holding areas 

are equipped with an adequate number 

of fans to ensure proper ventilation for 

birds, (5) whether stunning equipment 

(if applicable) and killing equipment are 

constantly monitored to ensure proper 

functioning for humane processing, (6) 

whether all poultry are dead before 

entering the scalder, and (7) whether 

establishment personnel and equipment 

handle poultry in a manner that 

minimizes broken legs and wings. These 

factors are based on information 

provided in the National Chicken 

Council Animal Welfare Guidelines and 

Audit Checklist, which is included in 

the list of references at the end of this 

notice. 

As a second step of a systematic 

approach, establishments determine 

whether their facilities are designed and 

maintained to prevent excitement, 

discomfort, and accidental injury to 

poultry the entire time that live poultry 

is held in connection with slaughter. 

In the third step, establishments 

periodically evaluate their handling 

methods to ensure that their employees 

are in fact minimizing excitement, 

discomfort, or accidental injury to live 

poultry, that their methods ensure all 

poultry are slaughtered in a manner that 

results in thorough bleeding of the 

carcass, and that their methods ensure 

poultry breathing has stopped before 

scalding. 

Additional Public Notification 

Public awareness of all segments of 

rulemaking and policy development is 

important. Consequently, in an effort to 

ensure that the public and in particular 

minorities, women, and persons with 

disabilities, are aware of this notice, 

FSIS will announce it on-line through 

the FSIS Web page located at http:// 

www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/ 

2005_Notices_Index/Index.asp. FSIS 

also will make copies of this Federal 

Register publication available through 

the FSIS Constituent Update, which is 

used to provide information regarding 

FSIS policies, procedures, regulations, 

Federal Register notices, FSIS public 

meetings, recalls, and other types of 

information that could affect or would 

be of interest to constituents and 

stakeholders. The update is 

communicated via Listserv, a free e-mail 

subscription service consisting of 

industry, trade, and farm groups, 

consumer interest groups, allied health 

professionals, scientific professionals, 

and other individuals who have 

requested to be included. The update 

also is available on the FSIS Web page. 

Through Listserv and the Web page, 

FSIS is able to provide information to a 

much broader, more diverse audience. 

In addition, FSIS offers an electronic 

mail subscription service that provides 

an automatic and customized 

notification when popular pages are 

updated, including Federal Register 

publications and related documents. 

This service is available at http:// 

www.fsis.usda.gov/news_and_events/email_subscription/ and allows FSIS 

customers to sign up for subscription 

options in eight categories. Options 

range from recalls to export information 

to regulations, directives and notices. 

56626 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 187 / Wednesday, September 28, 2005 / Notices 

Customers can add or delete 

subscriptions themselves and have the 

option to password protect their 

accounts. 

References 

The following sources are available 

for review in the FSIS Docket Room, 

Cotton Annex, 300 12th Street, SW., 

Room 102, Washington, DC 20250 

between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday 

through Friday. 

Food Marketing Institute/National 

Council of Chain Restaurants Animal 

Welfare Audit Program. Information 

about the program is available at 

http://www.awaudit.org/. 

National Chicken Council Animal 

Welfare Guidelines and Audit Checklist. 

Available at http:// 

www.nationalchickencouncil.com/. 

Thaler, A.M., ‘‘The United States 

Perspective Towards Poultry 

Slaughter.’’ Poultry Science. February 

1999. v. 78 (2), p. 298–301. 

Done at Washington, DC on September 23, 

2005. 

Barbara J. Masters, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 05–19378 Filed 9–27–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

[Docket No. 05–030N] 

Codex Alimentarius Commission: 

Meeting of the Codex Committee on 

Food Import and Export Inspection and 

Certification Systems 

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary 

for Food Safety, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Office of the Under 

Secretary for Food Safety, United States 

Department of Agriculture (USDA), and 

the Food and Drug Administration 

(FDA), U.S. Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS), are sponsoring 

a public meeting on November 10, 2005. 

The objective of the public meeting is to 

provide information and receive public 

comments on agenda items and draft 

U.S. positions that will be discussed at 

the 14th Session of the Codex 

Committee on Food Import and Export 

Inspection and Certification Systems 

(CCFICS) of the Codex Alimentarius 

Commission (Codex), which will be 

held in Melbourne, Australia, November 

28–December 2, 2005. The Under 

Secretary for Food Safety and FDA 

recognize the importance of providing 

interested parties the opportunity to 

obtain background information on the 

14th Session of CCFICS and to address 

items on the agenda. 

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled 

for Thursday, November 10, 2005 from 

1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be 

held in Room 0161 of the South 

Agriculture Building, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC (Smithsonian Metro 

stop). Documents related to the 14th 

Session of the CCFICS will be accessible 

via the World Wide Web at the 

following address: http:// 

www.codexalimentarius.net/ 

current.asp. 

FSIS invites interested persons to 

submit comments on this notice. 

Comments may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

• Mail, including floppy disks or CD–

ROMs, and hand- or courier-delivered 

items: Send to the FSIS Docket Clerk, 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food 

Safety and Inspection Service, 300 12th 

Street, SW., Room 102, Cotton Annex, 

Washington, DC 20250. All comments 

received must include the Agency name 

and docket number 05–030N. All 

comments submitted in response to this 

notice, will be available for public 

inspection in the FSIS Docket Room at 

the address listed above between 8:30 

a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through 

Friday. The comments also will be 

posted on the Agency’s Web site at 

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

2005_Notices_Index/. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

About the 14th session of the CCFICS: 

Dr. Catherine Carnevale, Director, Office 

of Constituent Operations, Center for 

Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 

FDA, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway (HFS–

550), College Park, MD 20740, phone: 

(301) 436–2380, Fax: (301) 436–2618. Email: 

Catherine.Carnevale@cfsan.fda.gov. 

About the public meeting: Edith 

Kennard, Staff Officer, U.S. Codex 

Office, Food Safety and Inspection 

Service, Room 4861, South Building, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250, Phone: (202) 

720–5261, Fax: (202) 720–3157, E-mail: 

edith.kennard@fsis.usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Codex was established in 1962 by two 

United Nations organizations, the Food 

and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and 

the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Codex is the major international 

organization for encouraging fair 

international trade in food and 

protecting the health and economic 

interests of consumers. Through 

adoption of food standards, codes of 

practice, and other guidelines 

developed by its committees, and by 

promoting their adoption and 

implementation by governments, Codex 

seeks to ensure that the world’s food 

supply is sound, wholesome, free from 

adulteration, and correctly labeled. In 

the United States, USDA, FDA, and the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

manage and carry out U.S. Codex. 

The Codex Committee on Food Import 

and Export Inspection and Certification 

Systems was established to develop 

principles and guidelines for food 

import and export inspection and 

certification systems to facilitate trade 

through harmonization and to supply 

safe and quality foods to consumers. 

Included in the charge is application of 

measures by competent authorities to 

provide assurance that foods comply 

with essential requirements. 

Issues To Be Discussed at the Public 

Meeting 

The following items on the Agenda 

for the 14th Session of the Committee 

will be discussed during the public 

meeting: 

• Proposed draft Appendices to the 

Guidelines on the Judgment of 

Equivalence of Sanitary Measures 

Associated with Food Inspection and 

Certification. 

• Proposed draft Guidelines for Riskbased Inspection of Imported Foods 

• Proposed draft Principles for the 

Application of Traceability/Product 

tracing in the context of Food Inspection 

and Certification Systems 

• Proposed draft Revision of the 

Guidelines for Generic Official 

Certificate Formats and the Production 

and issuance of Certificates 

• Discussion Paper on the Revision of 

the Guidelines for the Exchange of 

Information between Countries on 

Rejection of Imported Foods 

• Discussion Paper on development 

of an Appendix on ‘‘Information relating 

to the need for technical assistance and 

cooperation between the importing 

countries to exporting countries’’ to the 

Codex Guidelines on the Judgment of 

Equivalence of Sanitary Measures 

Associated with Food Inspection and 

Certification 

Members of the public may access or 

request copies of these documents at: 

http://www.codexalimentarius.net/ 

current.asp 

Public Meeting 

At the November 10th public meeting, 

draft U.S. positions on the agenda items 

will be described, discussed, and 

attendees will have the opportunity to