[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 80 (Tuesday, April 26, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-10035]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: April 26, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
9 CFR Part 313
[Docket No. 91-035F]
RIN 0583-AB54
Use of Carbon Dioxide in the Humane Slaughter of Swine
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: FSIS is amending the Federal meat inspection regulations to
permit the use of carbon dioxide to induce death in swine. The
amendment, prompted by a petition from the Danish and Swedish Meat
Research Institute, is based on scientific research showing the use of
carbon dioxide to induce death in swine to be an effective and humane
slaughtering method.
EFFECTIVE DATE: May 26, 1994.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. William O. James, Director,
Slaughter Inspection Standards and Procedures Division, room 202 Annex
Building, FSIS, USDA, 300 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20250-3700,
(202) 720-3219.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Executive Order 12866
This final rule has been determined to be not-significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866 and therefore has not been reviewed
by the Office of Management and Budget.
Executive Order 12778
This final rule has been reviewed pursuant to Executive Order
12778, Civil Justice Reform. This final rule will permit swine to be
humanely slaughtered in official meat-packing establishments through
the administration of carbon dioxide.
State and local jurisdictions are preempted under the Federal Meat
Inspection Act (FMIA) from imposing any requirements with respect to
federally inspected premises and facilities, and operations of such
establishments, that are in addition to, or different than, those
imposed under the FMIA. States and local jurisdictions are also
preempted under the FMIA from imposing any marking, labeling,
packaging, or ingredient requirements on federally inspected meat or
meat food products that are in addition to, or different than, those
imposed under the FMIA. States and local jurisdictions may, however,
exercise concurrent jurisdiction over meat products that are outside
official establishments for the purposes of preventing the distribution
of meat products that are misbranded or adulterated under the FMIA or,
in the case of imported articles, which are not at such an
establishment, after their entry into the United States. States and
local jurisdictions may also make requirements or take other actions
that are consistent with the FMIA, with respect to any other matters
regulated under the FMIA.
Under the FMIA, States that maintain meat inspection programs must
impose requirements on State-inspected products and establishments that
are at least equal to those required under the FMIA. These States may,
however, impose more stringent requirements on such State-inspected
products and establishments.
No retroactive effect will be given to this final rule, and
applicable administrative procedures must be exhausted before any
judicial challenge can be taken to the application of these provisions.
Those administrative procedures are set forth in 9 CFR 306.5.
Effect on Small Entities
The Administrator has determined that this final rule will not have
a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities, as defined by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601).
The use of the carbon dioxide (CO2) slaughtering methods is
voluntary. FSIS is not aware of any domestic establishments that are
currently planning to use this swine slaughtering method. Even if some
establishments decide to use the method, there is no indication that a
substantial number of establishments will. There will be no impact on
entities other than establishments engaged in the slaughter of swine
and the sale of swine carcasses and parts for human food. A significant
investment will be required by large or small entities establishing
CO2 slaughtering facilities. Inspection program experts estimate
that an investment of $50,000 to $100,000 per slaughtering line would
be necessary, depending on the size and complexity of the
establishment. The decision to make this initial investment will be
entirely up to the establishment, although this rule authorizing
CO2 slaughtering of swine could be a factor in making the
decision. This investment could be more than offset by a reduction in
manpower required for restraining, stunning, and handling hogs after
stunning.
Further, the improvement in meat quality, which advocates of the
CO2 process claim, could lead to a greater amount of saleable
product. Because the hogs are much more relaxed when slaughtered with
CO2 than they are when slaughtered by current methods, a number of
desirable characteristics are imparted to the meat. The amount of pale,
soft, exudative pork, considered undesirable by meat buyers, is reduced
under the process, as well as blood spattering and broken bones. Also,
less effort is expended on trimming and the removal of quality defects.
No adverse competitive effects on small entities resulting from
adoption of the rule are anticipated. Because the equipment needed for
establishments to benefit from CO2 slaughtering is available in a
range of prices, larger establishments choosing to use this method will
not receive greater proportional advantages than smaller ones choosing
to do the same. For the reasons discussed above, the rule will not have
a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Paperwork Requirements
This final rule imposes no new information collection requirements
on official establishments or other members of the public. Under the
rules for the use of carbon dioxide to anaesthetize animals before
slaughter, establishments are required to sample gas for analysis from
representative locations within the gas tunnels which convey the
animals. Gas concentrations and exposure times are to be recorded
throughout each day's operations. These records are subject to FSIS's
standard records retention requirement at 9 CFR 320.3 and must be
available to employees of the inspection service. These carbon dioxide
monitoring requirements are continued under this final rule.
Background
Under the Humane Slaughter Act (HSA) of 1958 (7 U.S.C. 1901-1906),
as amended, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to designate
humane methods of handling and slaughter of food animals. The HSA
(section 2 (a) ) sets forth in number of methods of handling and
slaughtering that have been found to be human, including the
anaesthetization of animals by electrical or chemical means before they
are shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut. These methods are
available to slaughtering establishments under the FMIA (section 3; 21
U.S.C. 603).
FSIS was petitioned by the Danish and Swedish Meat Research
Institute to amend the Federal meat inspection regulations to permit
the use of CO2 for the purpose of inducing death in swine. The
petitioners based their request on studies demonstrating the beneficial
effects of this method on meat quality and the efficient handling of
slaughter swine. Some Danish firms that export product to the Untied
States are planning to install systems for slaughtering swine with
CO2, and FSIS believes it may be potentially beneficial to U.S.
industry to make generally available the option of this use of
CO2.
The use of CO2 gas for stunning has been permitted since the
early 1900's and is permitted by the HSA. Animals to be anaesthetized
by this method are placed on a conveyor and passed through tunnels
filled with the gas. They are moved through the tunnels at such a slow
rate that they are unconscious when they emerge. They are then
shackled, hoisted, stuck, and bled out.
In the last two decades, reports in the scientific literature have
shown that the stunning of slaughter animals by the administration of
CO2 gas is just as effective as electrical stunning. There is
little or no difference between the two methods in the amount of stress
inflicted on the animal. Whichever method is used, animals should be
carefully handled before slaughter to reduce stress, and sticking
(exsanguination) should take place as soon as possible after stunning
to prevent a return to consciousness.
With respect to the administration of CO2, it has been
demonstrated that if the concentration of the gas in the tunnels is
increased, death ensues. Other effects, including fewer injuries to the
animals or establishment employees, have also been noted. Depending on
the facilities and equipment used and the technique of administration,
CO2 stunning of swine can yield meat that has improved color,
carcasses with fewer broken bones and blood spots in the most desired
cuts, less pale, soft, exudative pork, and higher boning and cutting
yields.
Studies have shown that the necessary conditions for death to take
place are a 95-98 percent CO2 concentration and an exposure time
of 3.5 minutes. The death-to-bleeding interval should be no longer than
2 minutes to prevent pooling of blood in intestines and edible organs
and no longer than 5 minutes to prevent the pooling of blood in muscle
tissue.
Under the FMIA, only those foreign establishments that have
complied with inspection standards ``at least equal to'' those enforced
domestically by the United States Government may export product to this
country. An establishment in which slaughter methods are used that are
prohibited by regulations under the FMIA is not eligible to export
product to the United States. Without the change in the regulations
effected by this final rule, an establishment using CO2 to induce
death in swine would be unable to export pork products to the United
States.
Comments on the Proposed Rule
On September 10, 1993, FSIS published in the Federal Register (58
FR 47673) a proposed rule to amend the Federal meat inspection
regulations to allow official establishments to induce death in swine
by the use of carbon dioxide. The Agency received two comments, one
from an industry consultant, and one from a swine processor. Both
commenters supported the proposed change in the regulations, citing
research indicating the process is safe and humane. One of the
commenters expressed the belief that use of the carbon dioxide
slaughter process would encourage operators and suppliers to develop
improved methods of handling and slaughtering swine.
Final Rule
The Agency is, therefore, amending Sec. 313.5 of the Federal meat
inspection regulations to remove the prohibition against the use of
CO2 as a direct cause of asphyxiation or death in swine and
provide for monitoring of the conditions under which slaughter by use
of CO2 gas is administered. This amendment is consistent with the
main purpose of the HSA, which is to render animals insensible to pain
before slaughter. The change will not require swine to be asphyxiated
by CO2 before bleeding, but will permit exposure to concentrations
of the gas for a sufficient amount of time for death to occur. In
addition, the requirement for a suitable exhaust system (9 CFR 313.5
(b)(3)) has been amended to more accurately state the system's purpose,
which is, in case of equipment breakdown, to prevent both nonuniform
carbon dioxide concentrations in the gas tunnel and leakage of carbon
dioxide gas into the ambient air of the establishment.
List of Subjects in 9 CFR Part 313
Humane slaughter of livestock, Meat inspection.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 9 CFR part 313 of the
Federal meat inspection regulations is amended as follows:
PART 313--HUMANE SLAUGHTER OF LIVESTOCK
1. The authority citation for part 313 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1901-1906; 21 U.S.C. 601-695; 7 CFR 2.17,
2.55.
2. Paragraph (a)(1) of Sec. 313.5 is amended by adding a new last
sentence; paragraphs (a)(3), (b)(1)(i), and the last sentence of
paragraph (b)(3) are revised to read as follows:
Sec. 313.5 Chemical; carbon dioxide.
* * * * *
(a) * * *
(1) * * * In swine, carbon dioxide may be administered to induce
death in the animals before they are shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast,
or cut.
(2) * * *
(3) On emerging from the carbon dioxide tunnel, the animals shall
be in a state of surgical anaesthesia and shall remain in this
condition throughout shackling, sticking, and bleeding, except for
swine in which death has been induced by the administration of carbon
dioxide. Asphyxia or death from any cause shall not be produced in
animals before bleeding, except for swine in which death has been
induced by the administration of carbon dioxide.
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(i) The carbon dioxide gas shall be administered in a tunnel which
is designed to permit the effective exposure of the animal. Two types
of tunnels, based on the same principle, are in common use for carbon
dioxide anesthesia. They are the ``U'' type tunnel and the ``Straight
Line'' type tunnel, and are based on the principle that carbon dioxide
gas has a higher specific gravity than air. The tunnels are open at
both ends for entry and exit of animals and have a depressed central
section. Anesthetizing, or, in the case of swine, death-inducing,
carbon dioxide concentrations are maintained in the central sections of
the tunnels. Effective anaesthetization is produced in these central
sections. Animals are driven from holding pens through pathways
constructed of large-diameter pipe or smooth metal and onto continuous
conveyor devices that move the animals through the tunnels. The animals
are either compartmentalized on the conveyors by mechanical impellers
synchronized with the conveyor or they are otherwise prevented from
crowding. While impellers are used to compartmentalize the animals,
mechanically or manually operated gates are used to move the animals
onto the conveyors. Surgically anaesthetized animals, or killed swine,
are moved out of the tunnels by the same continuous conveyors that
moved them into and through the carbon dioxide gas.
(2) * * *
(3) * * * An exhaust system must be provided so that, in case of
equipment failure, non-uniform carbon dioxide concentrations in the gas
tunnel or contamination of the ambient air of the establishment will be
prevented.
Done at Washington, DC, on April 19, 1994.
Patricia Jensen,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Marketing and Inspection Services.
[FR Doc. 94-10035 Filed 4-25-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-M
