March 6, 1998 - Inspection Board Recommends Interstate Meat Shipment

by Ken Krizner, Meat Marketing & Technology

The National Advisory Committee of Meat and Poultry Inspection is recommending that the U.S. Department of Agriculture draft legislation that would end the interstate ban on state-inspected meat products.  

The non-binding recommendation would allow states with meat inspection programs to enforce federal meat and poultry inspection laws, including Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point programs. Eligibility for such a program would begin on Jan. 26, 2000, which is the final implementation date for HACCP.  

The recommendation is based on a concept drafted by USDA in September that sanctions the interstate shipment of state-inspected meat if the state's inspection program "is equal to" federal guidelines. To fulfill that requirement, USDA would conduct comprehensive reviews of all state inspection programs prior to Jan. 26, 2000, focusing on HACCP implementation and compliance with other pathogen reduction strategies. There are currently 25 states with meat inspection programs.  

The committee questioned whether USDA could conduct thorough reviews of state programs when it is understaffed and in the middle of HACCP implementation. However, Thomas J. Billy, Food Safety and Inspection Service administrator, told the committee that he envisions an approach that would include comprehensive reviews of state and foreign inspection programs, as well as the federal program.  

"It is about making sure the whole system is working in a systematic way and treat them the same in terms of how we go about [the reviews]," he told committee members.

  The committee developed five issues that it believes need to be solved before legislation can go before Congress. The issues include the mechanics of state programs enforcing federal law, the cost and trust factors of states conducting salmonella testing, and who has jurisdiction if a recall situation arises.  

An FSIS spokesman said the committee's recommendation has been forwarded to USDA Secretary Dan Glickman's office. Glickman will make the final decision as to whether legislation will be drafted, the spokesman said.

This article reprinted with permission from Meat Marketing & Technology.

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