FSIS directive on interstate shipping practices provides some clarity

摘要

Ohio might be up and running as the first state approved by USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service to select plants eligible to ship meat and poultry products across state lines without becoming federally inspected plants, but questions remain about what the program will look like. The Buckeye State has become a sort of guinea pig as FSIS rolls out its Cooperative Interstate Shipment Program (CIS), which allows state-inspected facilities meeting the same standards as federally inspected plants to sell their products in other states. USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan made the announcement, in August, that Ohio had successfully completed the enrollment process, and that at least three other states - Indiana, North Dakota and Wisconsin - had expressed an interest in participating (see FCN Aug. 17, 2012, Page 23).