FSIS Posts Updated Dataset on Import Refusals

On January 15, 2020, FSIS will update the publicly posted dataset on import refusals for products that they regulate. Federal law requires every commercial shipment of imported meat, poultry, and egg products to be re-inspected prior to product entering U.S. commerce. FSIS re-inspects each shipment to verify labeling, proper certification, general condition, and any signs of tampering and to identify product adulterated by transportation damage. FSIS also performs additional activities on a random and/or for-cause basis, such as physical product examination and laboratory sampling for pathogens and chemical residues.

Any product that does not meet FSIS requirements is refused entry, and the importer has up to 45 days (30 days for egg products) to have the product destroyed for use as human food, re-exported/returned to the foreign country, converted to animal food, or brought into compliance with FSIS requirements, if applicable (e.g., relabeled, remarked, or issued a replacement certificate).

This dataset is updated around the 15th of each month and contains each shipment with product that was refused entry. To access these datasets or view more information about them, please visit the FSIS Datasets page at: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/science-data/data-sets-visualizations.

Establishment Specific Datasets Now Available

FSIS has posted a new establishment-specific dataset on the FSIS website as announced in the Federal Register on July 14, 2016 (Docket No. FSIS-2014-0032). This is the full dataset of risk-based Listeria monocytogenes sampling results. Prior to publishing this dataset, the sample dataset and corresponding data documentation were posted on November 22, 2019 and comments were sought until January 3, 2020.  FSIS updates existing datasets quarterly and this dataset will next be updated in April.

The quarterly updates to other establishment-specific datasets are now available on the FSIS website:

• Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Meat and Poultry Sampling Data
• Egg Product Sampling Data
• Raw Ground Beef Sampling Data
• Raw Beef Trim Sampling Data
• Raw Beef Components Data
• Raw Beef Follow-up Sampling Data
• Raw Chicken Carcasses Data
• Raw Turkey Carcasses Data
• Raw Chicken Parts Data
• Raw Comminuted Chicken Data
• Raw Comminuted Turkey Data
• Raw Poultry Follow-up Sampling Data

Additional details can be found at https://www.fsis.usda.gov/science-data/sampling-program.

Additional Slaughter Classes Included in FSIS National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System Surveillance

The National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) is an interagency, partnership between state and local public health departments, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The NARMS surveillance system tracks changes in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of select foodborne bacteria found in ill people (CDC), retail meats (FDA), and food animals (USDA). The FSIS NARMS program focuses on two post-slaughter sampling points - intestinal cecal contents and meat, poultry, and fish samples, both collected at slaughter establishments.  Cecal content samples are analyzed for Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Enterococcus.  Food animals that are sampled include young chickens, young turkeys, dairy cattle, beef cattle, market hogs, and sows.  FSIS performs phenotypic AMR analyses and/or whole genome sequencing (WGS) on all Salmonella and Campylobacter isolates and a fraction of E. coli and Enterococcus isolates in support of NARMS.

Beginning in February 2020, FSIS will expand cecal sampling beyond young chickens, young turkeys, dairy cattle, beef cattle, market hogs, and sows to include veal, sheep, goat, and lamb.  FSIS will also perform AMR analysis on E. coli and Enterococcus isolates obtained from Siluriformes samples and Salmonella isolated from mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) from cattle selected for cecal sampling.  In addition, FSIS laboratories will test a subset of cecal content isolates from bovine and swine for Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). FSIS will also assess bacterial AMR diversity within a sample by analyzing multiple bacterial colonies.

Export Requirements Updates

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

• Australia
• Barbados
• China, People’s Republic of 
• French Polynesia 
• Morocco

Complete information can be found at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/inspection/import-export.

Policy Update

FSIS notices and directives on public health and regulatory issues are available at: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/policy. The following policy updates were recently issued:

FSIS Notice 01-20 - Mandatory Equal Employment Opportunity and Civil Rights Training for all FSIS Employees