FSIS Establishes a Uniform Time Period for Filing Appeals of Agency Inspection Decisions

On October 19, 2022, FSIS announced that it is amending its regulations to establish a uniform time period requirement for filing appeals of certain agency inspection decisions or actions starting December 18, 2022. The Federal Register notice on October 19, 2022, also responds to comments received on the July 2021 proposal.

Prior to this final rule, there were different regulatory requirements for appeals of FSIS decisions or actions related to inspection activities across multiple FSIS regulations. The final rule establishes a uniform appeals time period requirement of 30 calendar days from receipt of written notification of the contested inspection decision or action.

Appellants will also have 30 calendar days to file subsequent appeals if the initial appeal of the underlying decision or action is denied.

FSIS estimates that this rule will not result in additional costs to industry, consumers, or FSIS, as it is expected to economically benefit industry by providing a harmonized, streamlined appeals process.

For more information, please view the Federal Register notice.

NACMCF to Hold Virtual Public Meeting

The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) will hold a virtual public meeting on November 15, 2022, to discuss and vote on adopting the report, titled “Enhancing Salmonella Control in Poultry Products”. An update on the Cyclospora cayetanensis charge will also be provided and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will issue an additional work charge on Cronobacter spp. in powdered infant formula to the committee.

FSIS will post the meeting document on the FSIS website in advance of the public meeting and will invite interested persons to submit written comments on the document on or before November 15, 2022. FSIS will announce in a future Constituent Update when the report is available to review for comment.

Attendees must pre-register to receive a unique attendee ID, meeting links, dial-in numbers, and access codes. During pre-registration, attendees may also express interest in delivering comments during the meeting, limited to three minutes per speaker. Attendees who express interest in delivering comments during the meeting must register by November 8, 2022. FSIS will do its best to accommodate all registered persons who request to provide oral comments. Attendees that do not plan to speak at the public meeting may register at any time up to the day of the meeting.

The meeting agenda is available on the FSIS events page. More information on the NACMCF charges is also available on the FSIS website.

FSIS Updated PHIS Industry Reports 

FSIS has updated the “Industry Sampling Results for Primary Establishment Number Detailed” report available in the Public Health Information System (PHIS) to include Enterobacteriaceae (units of Most Probable Number/milliliter) results, as well as fix the sample result field to show a more granular value. Additionally, FSIS has made performance enhancements to all industry reports available in PHIS, including a fix for the Public Health Regulations report error some users encountered. The updates are in addition to the enhancements described in the September 16, 2022, Constituent Update and the September 30, 2022, Constituent Update.

FSIS Posts Updated Quarterly Humane Handling Datasets

Today, FSIS posted the updated quarterly humane handling inspection datasets on its website. The datasets include: (1) the number of administrative enforcement actions taken; (2) the number of humane handling verification tasks performed; (3) the number of humane handling verification tasks that resulted in a noncompliance record (NR); and (4) the number of hours spent observing and verifying the humane treatment of livestock. The posting contains the most recent four quarters of data by district, HACCP size, and quarter.

Upcoming Events

• November 3, 10 am-4 pm ET: Public Meeting on Reducing Salmonella in Poultry
• November 15, 10 am-12 pm ET: NACMCF Public Meeting

Policy Update

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

FSIS Notice 59-22 - Restoration of Forfeited Annual Leave

FSIS Notice 60-22 - Public Health Information System Establishment Profile Update

Export Requirements Update

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

• Chile
• Morocco
• Japan
• Honduras
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Nicaragua
• Colombia
• Curacao
• Ecuador
• Costa Rica
• Mexico
• Barbados
• Hong Kong
• Tunisia
• Canada
• Benin
• Dominica
• Mauritius
• Vietnam
• Korea
• Egypt
• Singapore
• St. Lucia
• Turks & Caicos Islands
• Uruguay
• Peru
• New Zealand
• China
• Jordan
• Qatar
• United Arab Emirates
• New Caledonia
• Myanmar
• Kiribati
• Solomon Islands
• Western Samoa (Samoa)
• French Polynesia (Tahiti)

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