France’s Eligibility to Export Raw Beef Products to the United States

FSIS has completed its record review and conducted an on-site audit of France’s inspection program for raw beef products. FSIS’ review of France’s documented inspection program and FSIS’ recent on-site verification audit of France’s beef slaughter system, conducted Aug. 31- Sept. 18, 2015, support FSIS’ decision that France has implemented a raw beef products inspection system equivalent to FSIS’ domestic inspection system.

Based on FSIS’ records review, France has comprehensive controls related to shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) for intact and non-intact beef. Thus, France is now eligible to export raw beef derived from cattle slaughtered on and after Dec. 6, 2016 to the United States. The countries/products eligibility table on the FSIS website has been updated to reflect this change. The eligibility table is available at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/4872809d-90c6-4fa6-a2a8-baa77f48e9af/Countries_Products_Eligible_for_Export.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.

France has been ineligible to export raw beef products to the United States since 1997 because of animal health restrictions imposed by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) after outbreaks in the 1990s of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). France requested that FSIS reinstate its eligibility to export beef to the US following the March 2014 USDA APHIS regulation that lifted restrictions on the importation of beef from countries classified as ‘controlled risk’ for BSE by the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE).

The 2015 audit report is available on the ‘Foreign Audit Reports’ website at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/international-affairs/importing-products/eligible-countries-products-foreign-establishments/foreign-audit-reports and for a direct link to the PDF visit https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/1ade106b-b057-4144-9932-74637093aff9/France-2015-FAR.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.

FSIS Publishes Notice of Proposed Revisions to Nutritional Fact Panel for Meat and Poultry Products in Federal Register

Today, FSIS published a Notice in the Federal Register to amend the nutrition labeling regulations for meat and poultry products so they parallel the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) final nutrition regulations, which were published on May 27, 2016. FSIS had previously announced the availability of an advanced copy of the proposed rule on Dec. 1, 2016. The Notice can be found at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/01/19/2016-29272/revision-of-nutrition-facts-labels-for-meat-and-poultry-products-and-updating-certain-reference.

FSIS seeks public comment for 60 days and the deadline to submit any comments is March 20, 2017. Comments may be submitted online through the Federal eRulemaking Portal; by mail to: Docket Clerk, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Patriots Plaza 3, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Mailstop 3782, Room 8-163B, Washington, DC 20250-3700; or by hand at Patriots Plaza 3, 355 E Street SW., Room 8-163B, Washington, DC 20250-3700.

NACMCF Subcommittee To Meet on Effective Salmonella Control Strategies for Poultry

The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) Effective Salmonella Control Strategies for Poultry subcommittee will meet in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 14-17, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Patriot’s Plaza 3, 1st Floor Conference Rooms, 355 E. Street SW, Washington, DC 20024. The subcommittee will continue to discuss additional strategies that FSIS and the poultry industry could implement to reduce Salmonella contamination of poultry products. To attend, please contact Karen Thomas, Advisory Committee Specialist, at 202-690-6620 or by email at karen.thomas-sharp@fsis.usda.gov.

FSIS Posts Aggregate Results for Chicken Parts, Comminuted Poultry and Poultry Carcasses Tested for Salmonella and Campylobacter

Today, FSIS updated the publicly posted aggregate sampling results (not individual establishments) relative to process control categories for establishments producing young chicken or turkey carcasses, raw chicken parts or Not Ready-To-Eat (NRTE) comminuted poultry products at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/data-collection-and-reports/microbiology/salmonella-verification-testing-program.

FSIS intends to resume individual establishment Category web posting once it has initiated follow-up sampling for establishments that are in Category three to help assess establishment corrective actions. FSIS will be regularly assessing the aggregate data to determine if the follow-up sampling is working effectively.

Export Requirement Updates

The Library of Export Requirements has been updated for products for the following country:
•South Africa

Complete information can be found at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/international-affairs/exporting-products.

Food Recalls and Alerts

For information regarding recalls, please contact the Congressional and Public Affairs Staff at (202) 720-9113. You can also receive e-mail notifications when public health alerts and recalls are issued by registering at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/newsroom/meetings/newsletters/constituent-updates/archive/2017/ConstUpdate011917