FSIS to Publish Proposed Rule Regarding Equivalence of China’s Poultry Slaughter System

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) published in the Federal Register its proposed rule regarding China’s  poultry slaughter system and its equivalence to the U.S. system.In March this year, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) finalized an audit showing that China’s poultry slaughter system met the criteria for an equivalence determination.  However, FSIS still needed to take additional steps before it could make a determination as to whether China’s system for poultry slaughter is equivalent and therefore that China’s is eligible to export poultry that was slaughtered in China to the United States. FSIS still must take a number of steps, the first of which will be the publishing of the proposed rule, followed by a comment period, before it can make a final determination as to whether China is equivalent and thus eligible to export poultry to the United States that was slaughtered and cooked in Chinese establishments.Once the comment period closes, FSIS will assess the comments and then make a final determination on China’s equivalence and publish a final decision in the Federal Register.  If FSIS ultimately finds that China’s system is equivalent, China will be elible to export processed poultry sourced from China to the United States.U.S. chicken has been blocked by China since January 2015, when the country issued a blanket ban on all U.S. poultry over issues related to avian influenza.  Poultry exports to China peaked in 2008, with an export value of $722 million.