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| Letter to Industry - July 13, 1998 |
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Dear Sir or Madam:
This is to acknowledge receipt of your request for USDA evaluation of your
chemical compound(s). We must advise you, however, that it is unlikely that we
will be able to consider your request.
On August 25, 1997, in an effort to clarify and consolidate the sanitation requirements for meat and poultry establishments, FSIS proposed to eliminate the regulatory requirement for prior approval of certain nonfood compounds and proprietary substances (62 FG 45045). More recently, FSIS published a notice in the Federal Register (63 FR 7319; February 13, 1998) stating that the Agency is eliminating the prior approval program for nonfood compounds and proprietary substances. The staff engaged in the evaluation process is being assigned to other, high priority tasks. Consequently, it is unlikely that FSIS will complete the review of your request. Therefore, your compound(s) will not be listed in the final update to the
List of Nonfood Compounds and Proprietary Substances.
USDA-inspected establishments have a responsibility to ensure that they do not use chemical compounds in a way that will result in the adulteration of the food they produce. To assist official establishments in avoiding such a result, FSIS is developing a compliance guide for meat and poultry establishments concerning the appropriate use of nonfood compounds and proprietary substances. Once completed, the compliance guide will be available not only to the regulated industry, but also to chemical manufacturers and the general public. FSIS also is developing an instructional directive for inspection personnel on how to verify that meat and poultry establishments are using nonfood compounds and proprietary substances in a manner that will not adulterate product. This directive will be available to the public, the regulated industry, and to chemical manufacturers.
The information that you submitted will be retained in our files pending a final decision on the proposed rule. Thank you for your interest in USDA's authorization program and for your patience during this transition.
Sincerely,
/s/
William J. Hudnall
Assistant Deputy Administrator
Standards and Methods Review
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