The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has acknowledged two more petitions and assigned them for review.

The first came in on Apr 9, 2024, and requests that FSIS amend all policies and regulations restricting the quantity of cheek meat permitted in certain beef products to allow for unlimited quantities of cheek meat in these products. 

The first petition from  North Star imported provides that cheek meat may be identified as “beef” in the ingredients statement on product labels.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has received the petition submitted on behalf of North Star imports dated April 9, 2024. 

The petition requests that FSIS amend all policies and regulations restricting the quantity of cheek meat permitted in certain beef products to allow for unlimited amounts of cheek meat in these products. 

The petition also requests that FSIS amend the regulations to provide that cheek meat may be identified as “beef” in the ingredients statement on product labels.

The request is being considered as a petition for rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(e)), USDA’s administrative regulations (7 CFR 1.28), and FSIS’ regulations on petitions (9 CFR part 392). The petition has been referred to the Office of Policy and Program Development for review and has been assigned petition number 24-02. 

As provided in 9 CFR 392.6, the petition will be made available to the public in the FSIS docket room and posted on the FSIS Website.

The FSIS has also received a petition submitted on behalf of the Meat import Council of America (MICA) dated March 15, 2024.

The petition requests that FSIS amend its import inspection regulations to extend current re-inspection and verification policies for meat, poultry, and egg products imported from Canada to products imported from additional countries.

The petition specifically asks that FSIS amend the regulations to allow countries, in addition to Canada, alternative options for meeting the requirement that the outside containers of all products offered for entry from a foreign country be marked with the official inspection legend. 

The petition also requests that FSIS amend FSIS Directive 9900.1 to allow re-inspection of products from additional countries to be conducted at the “rear of the open shipping conveyance” when it is “backed into the unloading dock at the import inspection facility” if the type of inspection is determined to be “only Certification and Label Verification.” The request is being considered as a petition for rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(e)), USDA’s administrative regulations (7 CFR 1.28), and FSIS’ regulations on petitions (9 CFR part 392). Your petition has been referred to the

The Office of Policy and Program Development for review has been assigned petition number 24-02. As provided in 9 CFR 392.6, the petition will be available on the FSIS Website.