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

16428

Vol. 60, No. 61

Thursday, March 30, 1995

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

[Docket No. PY–95–001]

Tentative Voluntary Poultry Grade

Standards

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service,

USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing

Service (AMS) is announcing that it is

approving the test marketing of USDA

grade identified boneless/skinless

poultry legs and drumsticks, based on

tentative grade standards.

DATES: This test-market period begins

March 30, 1995 and ends April 1, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Larry W. Robinson, Chief, Grading

Branch, Poultry Division, 202–720–

3271.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Poultry grading is a voluntary

program provided under the

Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, as

amended, and is offered on a fee-forservice basis. It is designed to assist the

orderly marketing of poultry products.

Quality in practical terms refers to the

usability, desirability, and value of a

product, as well as its marketability.

Poultry grade standards identify and

measure degrees of quality in poultry

products. They permit important quality

attributes to be evaluated uniformly and

accurately; they provide a way for

buyers and sellers to negotiate using a

common language.

Once poultry has been graded

according to these standards, it may be

identified with the USDA grademark.

Over the years, processors have found it

advantageous to market grade-identified

poultry products and consumers have

come to rely on the USDA grademark as

assurance that they are getting the

quality they want.

Poultry producers and processors are

continually developing new, innovative

products. Chicken and turkey, in

particular, have been transformed into a

myriad of boneless and/or skinless

products, increasing poultry’s share of

the consumer’s food dollar and

responding to consumer demand for

food with more built-in convenience

and less fat. Current regulations (7 CFR

Part 70) provide grade standards for

boneless poultry breasts, thighs, and

tenderloins (§ 70.231), as well as for

skinless carcasses and parts (§ 70.232).

The Agency has received several

industry requests to permit the grade

identification of boneless/skinless

poultry legs and drumsticks. These

products are currently being marketed

ungraded because there are no grade

standards for them. The Agency has

worked with members of the industry to

develop tentative grade standards which

will result in a high-quality product.

The Agency is ready to move forward to

a test marketing phase for boneless/

skinless poultry legs and drumsticks.

The Agency recognizes that before

new standards of quality can be

established or current standards of

quality can be amended, appropriate

investigation is needed. This includes

the test marketing of experimental packs

of grade-identified poultry products to

determine production requirements and

consumer acceptance, and to permit the

collection of other necessary data.

Current regulations (§ 70.3) provide the

Agency with the flexibility needed to

permit such experimentation, so that

new procedures and grading techniques

may be tested.

The Agency is granting permission for

the test marketing of grade-identified

boneless/skinless poultry legs and

drumsticks based on tentative standards

for one year. At the expiration of this

one-year period, the Agency will then

evaluate the test results to determine if

the current poultry grading regulations

should be amended, through notice-andcomment rulemaking, to include the

following tentative standards.

Tentative Poultry Grade Standards for

Boneless/Skinless Poultry Legs and

Drumsticks—A Quality

1. The leg or drum shall be cut as

specified in § 70.210(e)(6).

2. The skin and bones shall be

removed in a neat manner, without

undue mutilation of adjacent muscle.

3. Boneless/skinless legs and

drumsticks shall be free of tendons

extending more than one-half inch

beyond the meat tissue, cartilage, blood

clots, bruises, and discolorations other

than slight discolorations, provided they

do not detract from the appearance of

the product.

4. Minor flesh abrasions on the outer

muscle surface due to preparation

techniques and trimming are permitted

provided the outer surface remains

smooth with no angular cuts or tears.

Holes resulting from the removal of the

patella (knee cap) are permitted,

provided the bulk of the thigh and drum

remain intact and connected.

5. Trimming on the inner muscle

surface is permitted, provided it results

in a relatively smooth appearance.

6. Trimming is permitted around the

outer edges of the muscle, provided the

trimming results in a portion that

approximates the same symmetrical

appearance and meat yield of the

original part.

7. Boneless/skinless drumsticks may

be further separated by a single cut

parallel to the tibiotarsus and labeled as

boneless/skinless drumstick halves.

Dated: March 22, 1995.

Kenneth C. Clayton,

Acting Administrator.

[FR Doc. 95–7724 Filed 3–29–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service

[Docket No. 95–023–1]

Receipt of Petition for Determination of

Nonregulated Status for Genetically

Engineered Cotton

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: We are advising the public

that the Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service has received a

petition from the Monsanto Company

seeking a determination of nonregulated

status for cotton lines designated as

1445 and 1698 that have been

genetically engineered for tolerance to