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FSIS to Hold Small and Very Small Plant Regulatory Education Sessions in Texas
FSIS will hold regulatory education sessions for the owners and operators of small and very small plants on
August 22 and 23, in Texas and Georgia.
The sessions will cover a regulatory walkthrough of the sanitation standard operating procedures, hazard
analysis and critical control point and rules of practice regulations.
The sessions will be held at the following locations:
Tuesday, August 22, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., at the Embassy Suites Dallas Market Center, 2727 Stemmons Freeway, Dallas,
Texas 75207; and
Wednesday, August 23, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., at the Sheraton Atlanta Downtown, 165 Courtland Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.
To register by phone, call (800) 336-3747. Online registration forms and information about upcoming sessions can be
found at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/
Outreach_Sessions_SVS_Plants.index.asp.
Additional regulatory education sessions will be held throughout September in Wisconsin, Texas, New York, Missouri
and California.
FSIS Seeks Comments on Technical Service Center Operations
FSIS is seeking comments as part of its efforts to improve its Technical Service Center (TSC) operations. The agency
is particularly interested in improving TSC programs that assist small businesses.
FSIS is reviewing the organization, operations and services provided by its TSC in Omaha, NE, with the intent of
improving TSC programs that provide technical advice, guidance and information to FSIS personnel, the regulated
industry and the general public.
The agency is accepting comments until August 30, through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov
or by electronic mail at FSIS.RegulationsComments@usda.gov.
The related Federal Register notice is available on FSIS' Web site at
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/
2006_Notices_Index/index.asp.
Office of Food Safety to Hold Public Meeting on Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products
FSIS published a Federal Register notice on August 15, to announce that USDA's Office of Food Safety and
the Department of Health and Human Service's Food and Drug Administration will hold a public meeting on September 6.
The purpose of the meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft U.S.
positions that will be discussed at the 28th Session of the Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products of the
Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which will be held September 18-22, in Beijing, China.
The public meeting will be held from 1-4 p.m., in Room 3B-047 of the Harvey W. Wiley Federal Building, 5100 Paint
Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740.
The agency is accepting comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov
or by electronic mail at FSIS.RegulationsComments@usda.gov.
The notice is available on FSIS' Web site at
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Frame/FrameRedirect.asp?main=http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FRPubs/2006-0022.htm.
Export Requirement Updates
The Library of Export Requirements has been updated to reflect changes in export requirements for the following:
- Cayman Islands
- Dominican Republic
- Guatemala
- European Union
- Mexico
- Republic of Korea
- St. Lucia
Complete information can be found at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations_&_Policies/
Export_Information/index.asp.
Register for the 2006 Food Safety Education Conference Today
Register today for the 2006 Food Safety Education Conference titled, "Reaching At-Risk Audiences and Today's Other Food
Safety Challenges" in Denver, Colo., from September 27-29, 2006. Pre-conference workshops will be held
September 25-26.
A session titled, "Anatomy of an Outbreak" will be featured on the first day of the conference. This session
allows medical and public health professionals an opportunity to better understand their potential role in the
prevention, mitigation and reporting of foodborne illness.
Federal and state agency representatives will discuss E. coli O157:H7 outbreak investigations that may
serve as a prototype for public health agency and professional responses to public health crises resulting from
foodborne illness.
The three-day conference is sponsored by FSIS; NSF International, a non-profit public health company; the Food and
Drug Administration; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and
Extension Service; USDA's Food and Nutrition Service; NSF/WHO Collaborating Center for Food Safety; and other partners.
The conference, which will focus on educating general and at-risk populations such as pregnant women, children,
older adults, immune-compromised patients and culturally diverse populations about food safety, will be organized
around five primary themes:
- Foodborne Illness Surveillance and Epidemiological Insights;
- Food Safety Behavioral and Attitudinal Research;
- Social Marketing, Educational Interventions and Program Research;
- Role of Foodservice and Food Industries; and
- New Technologies.
Hotel rooms at the conference rate of $124.00 are going quickly. To reserve your room, call the Adam's Mark Hotel,
1550 Court Place, Denver, CO, at (800) 444-2326.
To register for the conference, view the entire program and see the list of presenters, go to
www.fsis.usda.gov/denver2006.
USDA Issues Press Release on Michigan Wild Bird Samples
USDA and the U.S. Department of the Interior issued a press release on August 14, to announce that routine surveillance
indicated the presence of H5 and N1 avian influenza (AI) subtypes in samples from two wild mute swans in Michigan.
Testing has ruled out the possibility of this being the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain that has spread through birds in
Africa, Asia, and Europe. So far, test results indicate this is a low pathogenicity strain of AI, which poses no
threat to human health.
Information about USDA's AI efforts can be found at www.usda.gov/birdflu
and at the U.S. government's comprehensive Web resource, www.avianflu.gov.
The press release is available on USDA's Web site at
http://www.usda.gov/2006/08/0294.xml.
Export Tip of the Week
Product may be detained or refused entry at its final destination for a number of reasons. These include:
incorrect completion of export certificate(s) accompanying the product; change in import requirements by the
receiving country; inspection official at port-of-entry unfamiliar with import requirements; product damage during
transit; and other reasons.
Exporters should request a written document describing the reason the product is being detained or refused entry.
This document should be presented immediately to FSIS' Office of International Affairs (OIA) and to the USDA Foreign
Agricultural Service's (FAS) agricultural attaché or minister-counselor responsible for covering exports of U.S.
product to that country.
In most cases, export certificates can be easily corrected; however, if additional certification (other than what is
published in the Export Library) is required, then further consultation is required between OIA, FAS and the receiving
country's inspection officials. The incident should be reported to OIA and FAS immediately because as time elapses it
becomes more difficult to resolve the issue.
For further information, call OIA at (202) 720-3473. Visit FSIS' Web site at
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/
Regulations_&_Policies/Export_Information/index.asp to learn more about requirements for exporting products to other countries.
To submit comments or questions, contact the editor, Faye Smith at:
fsisupdate@fsis.usda.gov
(202) 720-9113
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Last Modified:
August 18, 2006 |
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