FSIS Announces Mandatory Inspection Of Ratites And Squabs

Ratites are flightless birds such as ostriches, emus, and rheas. Squabs are young pigeons that have not yet flown.

Some ratites and squabs have been inspected under the agency’s voluntary poultry inspection program. Under this voluntary inspection, establishments pay a fee for inspection services. However, as part of the FY 2001 Agriculture Appropriations Act, $2.5 million was appropriated for their mandatory inspection. As a result of this action, U.S. establishments slaughtering or processing ratites or squabs for distribution into commerce as human food will now be subject to mandatory requirements of the Poultry Products Inspection Act and will no longer need to pay a fee for inspection.

Effective today, operators who wish to continue to slaughter or process ratites and squabs must apply to FSIS for a grant of inspection for mandatory inspection service.

Establishments that slaughter and process ratites and squabs will be required to implement and validate sanitation standard operating procedures and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point systems, as required by mandatory poultry inspection regulations. Establishments can receive conditional grants of inspection for a period of not more than 90 days while they validate their plans for operating under the science-based inspection system.

Ostriches, the first and most populous ratite to be raised in the U.S., had been eligible for voluntary inspection since December 1991. In 1995 voluntary inspection was extended to cover all ratites. Voluntary inspection is conducted by USDA inspectors who must have knowledge about each particular species they inspect. Voluntary inspection is handled under the Agriculture Marketing Act, which gives the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to take whatever steps are necessary to make products marketable.

Comments on the interim final rule should be submitted by July 2, 2001 to: FSIS Docket Clerk, Docket No. 01-045IF, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Room 102, Cotton Annex, 300 12th St., SW, Washington, DC 20250-3700. All comments submitted will be available for public inspection in the Docket Clerk’s office between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

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