Small meat shippers may see new interstate rules

Small meat shippers may see new interstate rules    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has proposed regulations to implement a new voluntary cooperative program under which select state-inspected operations will be allowed to ship meat and poultry products in interstate commerce.
   The program was established by the 2008 Farm Bill to supplement the existing federal-state cooperative inspection program to allow state-inspected plants with 25 or fewer employees to ship products across state lines.
   The USDA said the program is part of its new “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative, which seeks to improve connections between consumers with local food producers.
   “This new cooperative interstate shipment program will provide new economic opportunities for many small and very small meat and poultry establishments, whose markets are currently limited,” said Jerold Mande, USDA’s deputy undersecretary for food safety, in a statement on Tuesday.
   There are 27 states with state meat and poultry inspection programs, and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) verifies that they implement requirements that are “at least equal to” those imposed under federal meat and poultry products inspection acts. For these programs, FSIS provides up to half of the state’s operating funds, in addition to oversight and enforcement.
   Under the proposed rule, selected establishments will receive inspection services from federally trained and/or supervised state inspection officials who will verify that the establishments meet all federal food safety requirements.
   “Meat and poultry products produced under the voluntary cooperative program will bear an official USDA mark of inspection, thereby enabling interstate shipment of the products,” USDA said.
   “State-inspected establishments that are not selected for the voluntary cooperative program, including state-inspected establishments with more than 25 employees, are only eligible to sell and ship their products within their state,” USDA added.
   The USDA will accept comments on the proposed rule through Nov. 16. View the Federal Register notice here.