Edited February 2025

Note: FSIS will be publishing the next Constituent Update on Friday, January 5, 2024, due to the holiday season.

FSIS Appoints New Chief Scientist

Effective Dec. 31, 2023, Dr. Michelle Catlin will serve as Chief Scientist of FSIS. In this role, Dr. Catlin will serve as the primary scientific advisor on matters of public health and food safety that affect the mission of the agency, with primary responsibility for scientific initiatives within the Office of Public Health Science (OPHS). Dr. Catlin has more than 20 years of experience in the public health field. From 1999 through 2004 she worked for National Academy of Sciences. In 2004, Dr. Catlin joined FSIS as a senior scientist. She most recently served the agency as the International Coordination Executive, overseeing all of FSIS’ international activities. Dr. Catlin holds a Bachelor of Science (Honors) in life sciences and a Master of Science in pharmacology from Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and a Ph.D. in toxicology from the Department of Environmental Health of the University of Washington at Seattle. Margaret Burns-Rath, JD, MPH, who is currently serving as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of International Coordination, will begin acting as the International Coordination Executive.

Registration Open for Annual Agricultural Outlook Forum

From February 15-16, 2024, USDA will host the 100th Agricultural Outlook Forum (AOF), its largest and premier annual gathering, in Arlington, Virginia. AOF’s programs have consistently drawn a diverse group of participants, including producers, processors, policymakers, government officials, and non-governmental organizations. It routinely attracts upwards of 1,800 people in person and 4,000-5,000 virtual attendees from the U.S. and around the world.

The 2024 program will feature a keynote address by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a presentation on the outlook for agricultural markets and trade by USDA Chief Economist Seth Meyer, a plenary panel of distinguished guest speakers, and 30 breakout sessions covering a wide range of timely agricultural, food market and environmental issues. More than a hundred experts from government, industry, and academia will share insights on topics such as commodity and food price outlooks, U.S. and global agricultural trade developments, agricultural innovations, and the bioeconomy.

Please visit the Agricultural Outlook Forum website to find more information and register for the event.

2024 Rates for the Basetime, Overtime, Holiday, Laboratory Services, and Export Application Fees

On December 21, 2023, FSIS published a Federal Register notice announcing the 2024 fees it will charge meat, poultry, and egg products establishments, importers, and exporters for providing voluntary, overtime, holiday, identification, certification, and laboratory services. The notice also announces that there will be no change to the fee FSIS assesses to exporters that choose to apply for export certificates electronically through the export component of the agency’s Public Health Information System. The rate changes will be applied on January 14, 2024.

The following table lists the 2024 rates per hour, per employee, by type of service.

Available for Public Comment

FSIS seeks public comments on proposed rules and notices, which are viewable on the FSIS Federal Register & Rulemaking webpage. FSIS is currently seeking comments on the following:

• Until January 8, 2024: Notice of Request for Renewal of an Approved Information Collection: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery
• Until February 13, 2024: Notice of Request for a New Information Collection: Web-Based Surveys

Policy Update

FSIS notices and directives on public health and regulatory issues are available on the FSIS Policy webpage. The following policy update was recently issued:

FSIS Notice 67-23 - Cancellation of FSIS Directives

FSIS Notice 68-23 - Fiscal Year 2024 – Student Loan Repayment Program for In-Plant Veterinary Medical Officers– Application Timeframe

FSIS Directive 8080.1 - Managing Adulterated or Misbranded Meat, Poultry, and Egg Products - Revision 8

Export Requirements Update

The Library of Export Requirements has been updated for products for the following:

• Singapore
• Korea
• French Polynesia (Tahiti)
• Azerbaijan
• Japan
• Canada
• Kazakhstan
• Egypt
• China
• Chile
• Peru
• Turkey
• Vietnam
• European Union
• Taiwan
• Mexico

Complete information can be found at the FSIS Import & Export Library.