[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 91 (Monday, May 12, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25885-25886]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-12277]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 91 / Monday, May 12, 1997 / Notices
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Consumer Service
Food Distribution Program: Substitution of Donated Poultry with
Commercial Poultry
AGENCY: Food and Consumer Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the Food and Consumer Service's (FCS)
intent to continue and expand a demonstration project to test program
changes designed to improve the State processing of donated chicken by
allowing the substitution of donated chicken supplied by the Department
of Agriculture (the Department) with commercial chicken. The Department
is currently operating a demonstration project that allows selected
poultry processors to substitute commercial chicken for donated chicken
in the State processing of donated chicken. Only bulk pack chicken and
chicken parts are eligible for substitution under the current
demonstration project. Notice of the project, which operates from
February 1, 1996 through June 30, 1997, was published in the Federal
Register at 61 FR 5373 on February 12, 1996. Under the demonstration
project, FCS invoked its authority under 7 CFR 250.30(t) to waive the
current prohibition at 7 CFR 250.30 (f)(1)(I) against the substitution
of poultry items and to establish the criteria under which substitution
will be permitted.
The Department will continue to operate the demonstration project
from July 1, 1997 through June 30, 1999 and will expand the project to
include bulk pack turkey in addition to the bulk pack chicken and
chicken parts. The Department will use the results of the demonstration
project to further examine whether allowing the additional substitution
will result in increased processor participation and provide a greater
variety of processed end products to recipient agencies in a more
timely manner at lower costs.
DATES: The proposals described in this Notice may be submitted to FCS
through June 30, 1998. Note that the demonstration project runs until
June 30, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Proposals should be sent to Ellen Henigan, Chief, Schools
and Institutions Branch, Food Distribution Division, Food and Consumer
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Park Office Center, Room 501,
3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22302-1594.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Brothers, Schools and
Institutions Branch, at (703) 305-2644.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Executive Order 12866
This notice has been determined to be not significant and therefore
was not reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive
Order 12866.
Executive Order 12372
This program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance under 10.550 and is subject to the provisions of Executive
Order 12372, which requires intergovernmental consultation with State
and local officials (7 CFR part 3015, subpart V and final rule-related
notices published at 48 FR 29114, June 24, 1983 and 49 FR 22675, May
31, 1984).
Regulatory Flexibility Act
This action is not a rule as defined by the Regulatory Flexibility
Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612) and is thus exempt from the provisions of that
Act.
Background
Section 250.30 of the current Food Distribution Program regulations
(7 CFR part 250) sets forth the terms and conditions under which
distributing agencies, subdistributing agencies, and recipient agencies
may enter into contracts with commercial firms for processing donated
foods and prescribes the minimum requirements to be included in such
contracts. Section 250.30(t) authorizes FCS to waive any of the
requirements contained in 7 CFR part 250 for the purpose of conducting
demonstration projects to test program changes designed to improve the
State processing of donated foods.
Current Program Requirements
The State processing regulations at Sec. 250.30(f)(1)(i) currently
allow for the substitution of certain specified donated food items with
commercial foods, with the exception of meat and poultry. Under the
current regulations at Sec. 250.30(g), when donated meat or poultry
products are processed or when any commercial meat or poultry products
are incorporated into an end product containing one or more donated
foods, all of the processing is required to be performed in plants
under continuous Federal meat or poultry inspection or continuous State
meat or poultry inspection in States certified to have programs at
least equal to the Federal inspection programs. In addition to Food
Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) inspection, all donated meat and
poultry processing must be performed under Agricultural Marketing
Service (AMS) acceptance service grading.
Traditionally only a few companies have processed donated poultry.
Those processors have stated that the policy prohibiting the
substitution of donated poultry reduces the quantity of donated poultry
they are able to accept and process during a given period. Poultry
purchased by USDA for further processing is bulk chill packed.
Processors must schedule production around deliveries of the donated
poultry since it is a highly perishable product. Some of the processors
must schedule production around deliveries of donated poultry for up to
30 individual States. Vendors do not always deliver donated poultry to
the processors as scheduled, causing delays in production of end
products. These delays may be alleviated if the processors can
substitute their commercial poultry for donated poultry.
Demonstration Project
From July 1, 1997 to June 30, 1999, the Department will continue to
operate a demonstration project under which it will permit approved
processors to substitute commercial poultry for donated poultry in the
State processing of donated poultry. In addition, it intends to expand
the project to include bulk pack turkey. Processors may submit
proposals and be approved to participate in the demonstration project
[[Page 25886]]
during this time. FCS is invoking its authority under 7 CFR 250.30(t)
to waive the current prohibition in 7 CFR 250.30(f)(1)(i) against the
substitution of poultry for purposes of this demonstration project.
The demonstration project will be limited to bulk pack chicken,
chicken parts, and bulk pack turkey because the processing of such
items can be readily evaluated. There are a number of reasons why
poultry is preferable to meat for purposes of this demonstration
project. The definition of substitution in Sec. 250.3 requires the
replacement of commercial product for donated food to be of the same
generic identity and equal or better quality. With bulk pack chicken,
chicken parts, and bulk pack turkey these requirements can be met
easily and quickly, but requirements for the substitution of meat would
be more complicated. For example, the USDA specification for donated
ground beef calls for quality assurance provisions and certification
requirements including: (1) Checking fresh chilled beef for condition
prior to grinding; (2) implementing a sampling program to determine if
physchrotropic plate count levels exceed 100,000 bacteria per gram; (3)
assuring removal of bone and trimming defects; (4) complying with time
and temperature requirements during processing and storing; and (5)
complying with fat content requirements. These requirements cannot be
duplicated by many processors. Additionally, donated ground beef is
delivered frozen. Therefore, unlike bulk chilled poultry, immediate
processing is not crucial. Bulk pack turkey has been added to the
original demonstration project that allowed for the substitution of
bulk pack chicken and bulk pack chicken parts because USDA graders can
easily determine if commercial turkey meets or exceeds the
specifications for donated turkey.
FCS is inviting interested poultry processors to submit written
proposals to participate in the demonstration project. The following
basic requirements will apply to the demonstration project:
As with the processing of donated poultry into end
products, AMS graders must monitor the processing of any substituted
commercial poultry to ensure program integrity is maintained.
Only bulk pack chicken, chicken parts, and bulk pack
turkey delivered by USDA vendors to the processor will be eligible for
substitution. No backhauled product will be eligible. (Backhauled
product is typically cut-up frozen poultry parts delivered to schools
which may be turned over to processors for further processing at a
later time.)
Commercial poultry substituted for donated poultry must be
certified by an AMS grader as complying with all product specifications
for the donated poultry.
Substitution of commercial poultry may occur in advance of
the actual receipt of the donated poultry by the processor. However, no
substitution may occur before the product is purchased by USDA and the
contract is awarded. Lead time between the purchase and delivery of
donated poultry may be up to five weeks. Any variation between the
amount of commercial poultry substituted and the amount of donated
poultry received by the processor will be adjusted according to
guidelines furnished by USDA.
Any donated poultry not used in end products because of
substitution must only be used by the processor at one of its
facilities in other commercial processed products and cannot be sold as
an intact unit. However, in lieu of processing the donated poultry, the
processor may use the product to fulfill other contracts with USDA
provided all terms of the other contract are met.
The only regulatory provision or State processing contract
term affected by the demonstration project is the prohibition on
substitution of poultry (Sec. 250.30(f)(1)(i) of the regulations). All
other regulatory and contract requirements remain unchanged and must
still be met by processors participating in the demonstration project.
The demonstration project will enable FCS to evaluate whether to
amend program regulations to provide for the substitution of donated
poultry with commercial poultry in the State processing program.
Particular attention will be paid to whether such an amendment of the
regulations would probably increase the number of processors
participating, and whether it would probably increase the quantity of
donated poultry that each processor accepts for processing. Further,
FCS will attempt to determine whether the expected increase in
competition and the expected increase in the quantity of donated
poultry accepted for processing enables processors to function more
efficiently, producing a greater variety of processed poultry end
products in a more timely manner at lower costs.
FCS has determined that the current demonstration project did not
allow sufficient time for the poultry industry to consider the
ramifications and possible benefits of the demonstration. The initial,
but limited, data gathered from recipient agencies, AMS graders, and
AMS procurement has been positive. USDA is convinced that given
additional time, more chicken processors will decide to participate.
Processors in the turkey industry, who are subject to the same
inspection standards as the chicken industry, have expressed a strong
desire to enter the demonstration. The limited participation in the
demonstration, to date, has not provided FCS with sufficient data to
make an informed decision regarding benefits that might accrue to State
processing programs should the terms of the demonstration be made
permanent. Interested processors should submit a written proposal to
FCS outlining how they plan to carry out the substitution while
complying with the above conditions. Processors who are currently
participating in the demonstration should apply to continue in the
demonstration. The proposal must contain (1) a step-by-step description
of how production will be monitored (2) a complete description of the
records that will be maintained for (a) the commercial poultry
substituted for the donated poultry (b) the disposition of the donated
poultry delivered. All proposals will be reviewed by representatives of
the Food Distribution Division of FCS and by representatives of AMS
Poultry Division's Grading Branch. Companies approved for participation
in the demonstration project will be required to enter into an
agreement with FCS and AMS which authorizes the processor to substitute
commercial bulk pack chicken, chicken parts, and bulk pack turkey in
fulfilling any current or future State processing contracts during the
demonstration project period. Participation in the demonstration
project will not ensure the processor will receive any State processing
contracts.
Dated: May 5, 1997.
George A. Braley,
Associate Administrator, Food and Consumer Service.
[FR Doc. 97-12277 Filed 5-9-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-U
