PROPERLY EXECUTING VERIFICATION ACTIVITIES FOR PRODUCT PRODUCED UNDER EXPORT VERIFICATION (EV) PROGRAMS

FSIS is issuing this notice to ensure that inspection program personnel are following all steps in FSIS Notice 19-06, Revised Notice for Certifying Beef Products Under Export Verification (EV) Programs (NOTE: FSIS extended the expiration date of FSIS Notice 19-06 to 5/1/08 on 4/27/07).

Inspection program personnel that are asked to sign an export certificate at a third party facility (e.g., a cold storage warehouse or other facility where the products to be exported are not processed) need to be particularly aware of the verification activities that they are to perform. Third party facilities assemble and export product that they receive from other establishments or facilities, which may have been produced under an EV program. Inspection program personnel are to verify that the establishment that supplied the product to the third party facility is eligible to produce product under an EV program, and that the product is eligible to be exported to the country listed on the export certificate (see FSIS Notice 19-06).

FSIS is issuing an IKE that further explains how inspection program personnel are to respond to such situations. The IKE will be available for the next five days on the comments page section before it is finalized at:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FSIS_Employees/IKE/index.asp

This notice also serves as a reminder that inspection program personnel are to carry out all instructions found in FSIS Directive 9000.1, Export Certification, when certifying products for export.

Refer questions to the Technical Service Center at 1-800-233-3935.

Philip S. Derfler
Assistant Administrator
Office of Policy, Program, and Employee Development