[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 90 (Thursday, May 10, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26567-26568]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-2202]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
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.
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 90 / Thursday, May 10, 2007 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 26567]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
9 CFR Part 381
[Docket No. FSIS-2007-0016]
Eligibility of Chile To Export Poultry and Poultry Products to
the United States: Proposed Rule Comment Period Extension and Notice of
New Information
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Proposed rule; supplemental information.
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SUMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is providing
additional information about the basis on which it has tentatively
concluded that Chile's inspection system for poultry and poultry
products is equivalent to that of the United States. FSIS published a
proposed rule (FSIS-2006-0030) in the Federal Register of February 26,
2007 (72 FR 8293-8296), that would add Chile to the list of countries
eligible to export poultry and poultry products to the United States. A
comment on the proposal noted a deficiency that FSIS found in its
onsite audit of Chile's inspection system and questioned how, given
that deficiency, FSIS could find Chile's system equivalent. FSIS is
addressing this concern in this supplement to the proposed rule. Given
that FSIS is providing additional information to explain the basis for
its tentative finding of equivalency, FSIS is re-opening the comment
period on the proposed rule to May 25, 2007.
DATES: Submit comments by May 25, 2007.
ADDRESSES: FSIS invites interested persons to submit comments on the
proposed rule referenced in this document. Comments may be submitted by
any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: This Web site provides the
ability to type short comments directly into the comment field on this
Web page or attach a file for lengthier comments. FSIS prefers to
receive comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov and, in the ``Search for Open Regulations'' box,
select ``Food Safety and Inspection Service'' and ``Proposed Rules''
from the agency drop-down menu and then click on ``Submit.'' In the
Docket ID column, select the FDMS Docket Number to submit or view
public comments and to view supporting and related materials available
electronically. After the close of the comment period, the docket can
be viewed using the ``Advanced Search'' function in Regulations.gov.
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.
Electronic mail: RiskBasedInspection@fsis.usda.gov.
All submissions received must include the Agency name and docket
number FSIS-2006-0030.
All comments submitted in response to this proposed rule will be
posted to the regulations.gov Web site. Comments will also 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact Daniel
Engeljohn, Ph.D., Deputy Assistant Administrator for Office of Policy,
Program and Employee Development, FSIS, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Room 3147, South Building, 14th and Independence, SW., Washington, DC
20250-3700; telephone (202) 205-0495, fax (202) 401-1760,
daniel.engeljohn@usda.fsis.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
FSIS is the public health regulatory agency in the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) responsible for ensuring that the nation's
commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe,
wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged. Under the Poultry
Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 466), FSIS must evaluate a foreign
country's inspection system before determining that country is eligible
to export poultry or poultry products. This evaluation consists of two
parts: A document review and an on-site review. The document review is
an evaluation of the laws, regulations, and other written materials
used by the country to effect its inspection program. If the document
review is satisfactory, the on-site review is scheduled. It is
conducted by a multi-disciplinary team that evaluates all aspects of
the country's inspection program, including its laboratories and
individual establishments within the country. The process of
determining equivalence is described fully on the FSIS Web site at
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/equivalence_process/index.asp.
The FSIS review of Chile's poultry inspection system found that
Chile's requirements are equivalent to the relevant provisions of the
PPIA and the regulations that implement that statute. The FSIS on-site
review of Chile's poultry inspection system in August 2005 found,
however, that Chile was not conducting species verification testing as
required.
Chile immediately committed to remedying this deficiency and has
documented the steps that it has taken to implement species
verification testing. FSIS has evaluated the documentation provided by
Chile and is confident that Chile has sufficient controls in place to
ensure that species verification testing is being performed. It is
noteworthy that FSIS audited Chile's beef slaughter inspection system
in March-April 2006 and found that species verification testing is
being performed by the Chilean government in the beef slaughter
establishments certified to export to the United States.
FSIS documentation of the materials submitted by Chile to satisfy
the species verification requirement for poultry can be found online as
an addendum to the 2005 FSIS audit of Chile's poultry inspection system
at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/Foreign_Audit_Reports/index.asp.
FSIS is re-opening the comment period for this proposed rule so
that the public can have an opportunity to comment on the new
information that the Agency is making available. Comments must be
received by May 25, 2007.
[[Page 26568]]
Under this proposed rule, poultry and poultry products processed in
certified Chilean establishments may be exported to the United States.
All such products will be subject to re-inspection at United States
ports-of-entry by FSIS inspectors.
E-Government Act Compliance
The Food Safety and Inspection Service is committed to complying
with the E-Government Act, 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.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to ensure that
minorities, women, and persons with disabilities are aware of this
document, FSIS will announce it on-line through the FSIS Web page
located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/2007_Proposed_Rules_Index/index.asp. FSIS will also 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 electronic mail subscription service
for industry, trade and farm groups, consumer interest groups, allied
health professionals, and other individuals who have asked to be
included. The update is available on the FSIS Web page. Through the
Listserv and Web page, FSIS is able to provide information to a much
broader and more diverse audience. In addition, FSIS offers an e-mail
subscription service which provides automatic and customized access to
selected food safety news and information. This service is available at
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/news_and_events/email_subscription/.
Options range from recalls to export information to regulations,
directives and notices. Customers can add or delete subscriptions
themselves and have the option to password-protect their account.
Done at Washington, DC, on April 30, 2007.
David P. Goldman,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 07-2202 Filed 5-9-07; 8:45 am]
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