§ 381.199 - Inspection of poultry products offered for entry.

§ 381.199 Inspection of poultry products offered for entry.

(a)

(1) Except as provided in § 381.209 and paragraph (c) of this section, all slaughtered poultry and poultry products offered for entry from any foreign country shall be reinspected by a Program import inspector before they shall be allowed entry into the United States.

(2) Every lot of product shall routinely be given visual inspection for appearance and condition, and checked for certification and label compliance.

(3) The electronic inspection system shall be consulted for reinspection instructions. The electronic inspection system will assign reinspection levels and procedures based on established sampling plans and established product and plant history.

(4) When the inspector deems it necessary, the inspector may sample and inspect lots not designated by the electronic inspection system.

(b) Inspectors may take, without cost to the United States, from each consignment of poultry products offered for entry, such samples of the products as are deemed necessary to determine the eligibility of the products for entry into the commerce of the United States.

(c) Poultry products imported under § 381.207 shall not be sampled and inspected under this section unless there is reason for suspecting the presence therein of a substance in violation of that section, and in such case they shall be sampled and inspected in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section.

(d) In addition to the provisions specified in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this section, the following requirements apply to imported canned product.

(1) Imported canned products are required to be sound, healthful, properly labeled, wholesome, and otherwise not adulterated at the time the products are offered for importation into the United States. Provided other requirements of this part are met, the determination of the acceptability of the product and the condition of the containers shall be based on the results of an examination of a statistical sample drawn from the consignment as provided in paragraph (a) of this section. If the inspector determines, on the basis of the sample examination, that the product does not meet the requirements of the Act and regulations thereunder, the consignment shall be refused entry. However, a consignment rejected for container defects but otherwise acceptable may be reoffered for inspection under the following conditions:

(i) If the defective containers are not indicative of an unsafe or unstable product as determined by the Administrator;

(ii) If the number and kinds of container defects found in the original sample do not exceed the limits specified for this purpose in FSIS guidelines; and

(iii) If the defective containers in the consignment have been sorted out and exported or destroyed under the supervision of an inspector.

(2) Representative samples of canned product designated by the Administrator in instructions to inspectors shall be incubated under the supervision of such inspectors in accordance with § 381.309 (d)(1)(ii), (d)(1)(iii), (d)(1)(iv)(c), (d)(1)(v), (d)(1)(vii), and (d)(1)(viii) of this subchapter. The importer or his/her agent shall provide the necessary incubation facilities in accordance with § 381.309(d)(1)(i) of this subchapter.

(3) Sampling plans and acceptance levels as prescribed in paragraphs (d)(1) and (d)(2) of this section may be obtained, upon request, from International Programs, Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250.

(e) All products, required by this part to be inspected, shall be inspected only at an official establishment or at an official import inspection establishment approved by the Administrator as provided in this section. Such approved official import inspection establishments will be listed in the Meat, Poultry and Egg Product Inspection Directory, published by the Food Safety and Inspection Service. The listing will categorize the kind or kinds of product which may be inspected at each official import inspection establishment, based on the adequacy of the facilities for making such inspections and handling such products in a sanitary manner.

(f) Owners or operators of establishments, other than official establishments, who want to have import inspections made at their establishments, shall apply to the Administrator for approval of their establishments for such purpose. Application shall be made on a form furnished by the Program, Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, and shall include all information called for by that form.

(g) Approval for Federal import inspection shall be in accordance with subpart D of this part.

(h) Owners or operators of establishments at which import inspections of product are to be made shall furnish adequate sanitary facilities and equipment for examination of such product. The requirements of §§ 381.21 and 381.36, and part 416 of this chapter shall apply as conditions for approval of establishments as official import inspection establishments to the same extent and in the same manner as they apply with respect to official establishments.

(i) The Administrator is authorized to approve any establishment as an official import inspection establishment provided that an application has been filed and drawings have been submitted in accordance with the requirements of paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section and he determines that such establishment meets the requirements under paragraph (e) of this section. Any application for inspection under this section may be denied or refused in accordance with the rules of practice in part 500 of this chapter.

(j) Approval of an official import inspection establishment may be withdrawn in accordance with applicable rules of practice if it is determined that the sanitary conditions are such that the product is rendered adulterated, that such action is authorized by section 21(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (84 Stat. 91), or that the requirements of paragraph (e) of this section were not complied with. Approval may also be withdrawn in accordance with section 401 of the Act and applicable rules of practice.

(k) A special official number shall be assigned to each official import inspection establishment. Such number shall be used to identify all products inspected and passed for entry at the establishment.

[37 FR 9706, May 16, 1972, as amended at 49 FR 36819, Sept. 20, 1984; 51 FR 45633, Dec. 19, 1986; 54 FR 275, Jan. 5, 1989; 54 FR 41050, Oct. 5, 1989; 79 FR 56234, Sept. 19, 2014]