[Federal Register: April 15, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 72)]
[Notices]
[Page 19920]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15ap05-16]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. 05-010N]
Exemption for Retail Store Operations
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of adjusted dollar limitations.
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SUMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing
new dollar limitations on the amount of meat and meat food products and
poultry products that a retail store can sell to hotels, restaurants,
and similar institutions without disqualifying itself for exemption
from Federal inspection requirements. By reason of FSIS' regulations,
for calendar year 2005 the dollar limitation for meat and meat food
products has been increased from $53,600 to $54,500 and for poultry
products from $43,600 to $45,800. FSIS is increasing the dollar
limitations from calendar year 2004 based on price changes for these
products evidenced by the Consumer Price Index.
DATES: Effective Date: This notice is effective April 15, 2005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John O'Connell, Directives and
Economic Analysis Staff, Office of Policy, Program, and Employee
Development, FSIS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Room 112, Cotton
Annex Building, 300 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20250-3700;
telephone (202) 720-0345, fax (202) 690-0486.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) and the
Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) provide that
the statutory provisions requiring inspection of the slaughter of
livestock or poultry, and the preparation or processing of meat and
meat food and poultry products, do not apply to the types of operations
traditionally and usually conducted at retail stores and restaurants,
when those operations are conducted at any retail store or restaurant
or similar retail-type establishment for sale in normal retail
quantities (21 U.S.C. 454(c)(2)and 661 (c)(2)). In title 9 of the Code
of Federal Regulations Sec. Sec. 303.1(d) and 381.10(d), FSIS
regulations address the conditions under which requirements for
inspection do not apply to retail operations involving the preparation
or processing of meat or poultry products.
Under these regulations, sales to hotels, restaurants, and similar
institutions disqualify a store for exemption if they exceed either of
two maximum limits: 25 percent of the dollar value of total product
sales or the calendar year dollar limitation set by the Administrator.
The dollar limitation is adjusted automatically during the first
quarter of the year if the Consumer Price Index (CPI), published by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicates an increase or decrease of more
than $500 in the price of the same volume of product for the previous
year. FSIS publishes a notice of the adjusted dollar limitations in the
Federal Register. (See paragraphs (d)(2)(iii)(b) and (d)(2)(iii)(b) of
Sec. Sec. 303.1 and 381.10.)
The CPI for 2004 reveals an average annual price increase for meat
and meat food products of 1.6 percent and an annual average price
increase for poultry products of 5.1 percent. When rounded off to the
nearest $100.00, the price increase for meat and meat food products is
$900 and the price increase for poultry products is $2,200. Because the
price of meat and meat food products and the price of poultry products
have increased by more than $500, in accordance with Sec. Sec. 303.1
(d)(2)(iii)(b) and 381.10 (d)(2)(iii)(b) of the regulations, FSIS is
increasing the dollar limitation on sales to hotels, restaurants, and
similar institutions to $54,500 for meat and meat food products and to
$45,800 for poultry products for calendar year 2005.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy
development is important. Consequently, in an effort to ensure that the
public and in particular minorities, women, and persons with
disabilities, are aware of this notice, FSIS will announce it on-line
through the FSIS Web page located at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/2005_Notices_Index/
.
FSIS also will make copies of this Federal Register publication
available through the FSIS Constituent Update, which is used to provide
information regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations, Federal
Register notices, FSIS public meetings, recalls, and other types of
information that could affect or would be of interest to our
constituents and stakeholders. The update is communicated via Listserv,
a free e-mail subscription service consisting of industry, trade, and
farm groups, consumer interest groups, allied health professionals,
scientific professionals, and other individuals who have requested to
be included. The update also is available on the FSIS Web page. Through
Listserv and the Web page, FSIS is able to provide information to a
much broader and more diverse audience.
In addition, FSIS offers an e-mail subscription service which
provides an automatic and customized notification when popular pages
are updated, including Federal Register publications and related
documents. This service is available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/news_and_events/email_subscription/
and allows FSIS customers to sign up
for subscription options across eight categories. Options range from
recalls to export information to regulations, directives and notices.
Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and have the
option to password protect their account.
Done at Washington, DC, on: April 11, 2005.
Barbara Masters,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 05-7555 Filed 4-14-05; 8:45 am]